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Quotes from Silence is a Commons — Ivan Illich

1926–2002 Austria

← All quotes by Ivan Illich

9 quotes

A transformation of the environment from a commons to a productive resource constitutes the most fundamental form of environmental degradation.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

I will clarify a distinction that I consider fundamental to political ecology. I shall distinguish the environment as commons from the environment as resource.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

People called commons those parts of the environment for which customary law exacted specific forms of community respect.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

The appropriation of the environment by the few was clearly recognized as an intolerable abuse.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

By definition, resources call for defense by police. Once they are defended, their recovery as commons becomes increasingly difficult. This is a special reason for urgency.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

The customary law which humanized the environment by establishing the commons was usually unwritten. It was unwritten law not only because people did not care to write it down, but because what it protected was a reality much too complex to fit into paragraphs.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

The enclosure of the commons inaugurates a new ecological order: Enclosure did not just physically transfer the control over grasslands from the peasants to the lord. Enclosure marked a radical change in the attitudes of society towards the environment.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

"Commons" is an Old English word.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

Silence, according to western and eastern tradition alike, is necessary for the emergence of persons. It is taken from us by machines that ape people. We could easily be made increasingly dependent on machines for speaking and for thinking, as we are already dependent on machines for moving.

Silence is a Commons (1982)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Ivan Illich (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.