Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey

David Cayley's book, Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey, explores the meaning of his friend and teacher's life and work, locating it in its own time and retrieving its relevance for ours. Cayley finds Illich to be as relevant today as ever and more likely to be understood, now that the many convergent crises he foresaw are in full public view and the church that rejected him is paralyzed in its "folkloric" shell.

Format: Hardback
Length: 560 pages
Publication date: 08 February 2021
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

In the span of eighteen years since the passing of Ivan Illich, David Cayley has been deeply contemplative about the profound significance of his friend and mentor's life and work. Now, in his captivating book titled Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey, Cayley presents Illich's comprehensive body of thought, contextualizing it within its own historical era and reclaiming its relevance for our contemporary times.

Ivan Illich (1926–2002) emerged as a revolutionary figure within the Roman Catholic Church and in the broader realm of cultural criticism that began to flourish in the 1960s. His unwavering advocacy for a new, de-clericalized church and his staunch opposition to American missionary programs in Latin America, which he perceived as reactionary and imperialist, sparked conflicts with the Vatican and ultimately led him to withdraw from direct service to the church in 1969. Throughout the 1970s, Illich's institutional critiques, ranging from Deschooling Society to Medical Nemesis, championed what he termed an institutional or cultural revolution. In the final two decades of his life, Illich dedicated himself to developing his theory of modernity as an extension of church history. Cayley's book encompasses a comprehensive exploration of Illich's entire career, offering thoughtful meditations on each of his books. What emerges is a remarkable finding: Illich remains as relevant today as ever, and his ideas are more likely to be comprehended, particularly in light of the numerous convergent crises that he foresaw and the church that rejected him now finds itself immobilized within its "folkloric" shell.

Rather than a conventional biography, Cayley's book takes a unique approach, focusing on the life of Illich while also engaging in a continuous dialogue with him. This engaging conversation will captivate individuals with interests in theology, philosophy, history, and the Catholic Church, inviting them to delve deeper into the profound insights and visionary ideas of Ivan Illich.

Weight: 1158g
Dimension: 187 x 263 x 43 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271088129