Conviviality has lately become a catchword not only in academia but also among political
activists. This open access book discusses conviviality in relation to the adjoining concepts
cosmopolitanism and creolisation. The urgency of today's global predicament is not only an
argument for the revival of all three concepts but also a reason to bring them into dialogue.
Ivan Illich envisioned a post-industrial convivial society of 'autonomous individuals and
primary groups' (Illich 1973) which resembles present-day manifestations of 'convivialism'.
Paul Gilroy refashioned conviviality as a substitute for cosmopolitanism denoting an ability
to be 'at ease' in contexts of diversity (Gilroy 2004). Rather than replacing one concept with
the other the fourteen contributors to this book seek to explore the interconnections -
commonalities and differences - between them suggesting that creolisation is a necessary
complement to the already-intertwined concepts of conviviality and cosmopolitanism. Although
this volume takes northern Europe as its focus the contributors take care to put each
situation in historical and global contexts in the interests of moving beyond the binary
thinking that prevails in terms of methodologies analytical concepts and political
implementations.
