Banishing barbarism through convivialism: How? A question to Alain Caillé and Frederic Vandenberghe

Abstract

The text of the third Convivialist Manifesto suggests that there is a possible choice to avoid the barbarism that threatens us: to adopt convivialist ideas. As a co-founder of this movement of ideas, I shall explain how we arrived at this new Manifesto. It expresses a kind of new political philosophy of living together, in the words of Caillé and Vandenberghe. In this text, they present an interpretation of the dramatic situation facing humanity. They put forward proposals for the adoption of the principles of the convivialist philosophy and call for measures to be taken to address specific threatening challenges. I comment on this body of work, which does not strike me as sufficient to bring about a better world. So I ask myself, and I put the question to Caillé and Vandenberghe: what can be done to strengthen the body of thought of convivialism so that it offers a tool which appears to everyone as capable of driving out barbarism?