A SPECIAL ISSUE of *The International Journal of Illich Studies* Conviviality for the Day After “Normal” Guest Editors, Jeremy Hunsinger and Gustavo Esteva, join co-editors Dana L. Stuchul and Madhu Suri Prakash in issuing this CFM. The *International Journal of Illich Studies* seeks original articles that address the following call. The end of an era of “normal”—given a confluence of crises—has arrived. For many millions, the tragic dismantling of their material and social conditions exacerbates the yearning for something—“solutions,” “a return to normal,” “law and order,” “different priorities.” The Covid-19 pandemic (and the prospect of the next pandemic), the legacies of racism/racist policies, climate collapse, gender-related inequities, rising authoritarianism, environmental destruction, epistemic issues, social isolation and polarization--the interconnections of these issues touch every living being, threatening the continued existence of all. Each of these situations developed within specific contexts and the contexts have themselves become normal. When faced with these problems within capitalism, then capitalism and its neoliberal markets are assumed to provide solutions. Akin to providing oxygen keeping a dying beast alive, such “normality” serves to extend hegemonic control. What’s more, the counterproductivity of institutions beyond a certain intensification—a warning offered by Ivan Illich over 50 years ago—is now laid bare. To address the crises, the time to look beyond the genesis of the problems is now. Many seek a return to “normality.” But “normality” was the problem. The time has come to leave it behind. It is in the spirit of Ivan Illich that the *International Journal of Illich Studies* proposes this special issue. We invite papers engaging with our new/old challenges. The papers should engage with Illich's ideas or build upon them to contribute to an understanding of the current situation and to explore alternative paths. We are not specifically seeking “solutions,” but a deeper understanding of the current collapse. Are we before the postextual world Ivan tried to resist? How to escape from the society of control and vigilance in the digital era? We seek ideas and real, enfleshed examples of how to deal with our current predicament in a convivial way. How does Illich’s “conviviality” clarify the “normality” to be avoided and ways of living through today’s crises? Topics may include but are not limited to issues of: - Alternative institutions and modes of living (austerity, the notion of sufficiency, the sense of proportion) - Climate Crisis (global warming, climate change) or climate collapse. - Conviviality - consideration of a modern society of responsibly limited tools, including a new politics - Industrial mode of production and violence - Regeneration of the commons, the new commons - Commodification of needs and desires - Counterproductivity - Environment/ecology - Education and schooling or learning in freedom; universities, academic cultures - De-patriarchalization - Experts/expertise/knowledge cultures/disabling professions/de-professionalization - Identities/intersectionality/intercultural dialogue/radical pluralism - Institutions/institutionalization/de-institutionalization - Labor, work, shadow work, un-laboring (abolition of work) - Networked communication - internet-based issues; “vigilance capitalism”/society of control, people’s digitalization - Pandemics and sociality - Use value and social re-structuring - From tools to systems Authors interested in submitting manuscripts for review should follow the instructions included here: https://journals.psu.edu/illichstudies/about/submissions Additionally, authors are encouraged to register themselves within the *IJIS*. Submit manuscripts (for review) by: September 1, 2020 Notification of acceptance/rejection/accept with revisions by: October 15, 2020 Issue publication: December 2020 Questions? Contact Dana Stuchul, dls268@psu.edu I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. -Pablo Picasso