Lineage

Tutelary Figures and Intellectual Companions

Govonos situates itself within a lineage of thought that has illuminated social bonds, the plurality of ways of life, and the dignity of the common good. Certain works serve as tutelary references and intellectual companions for Govonos.

This recognition does not, in itself, imply any institutional involvement, formal affiliation, or endorsement of Govonos' activities, positions, or work.

Michel Maffesoli

For having brought to light the sensitive, relational, and imaginative dimensions of social life, reminding us that any normative or institutional architecture rests first upon shared forms of life that cannot be reduced to the systems claiming to organize them.

Hans Jonas

For having articulated an ethics of responsibility oriented toward the future, emphasizing that every form of technical power entails a moral obligation toward what cannot yet respond, and that ethical foresight must precede efficiency.

Ivan Illich

For having shown that institutions become alienating when they lose their human scale, and that genuine governance begins where systems cease to replace the life they claim to serve.

Zhao Tingyang

For having reactivated the notion of tianxia as a conception of the common world, in which order arises not from domination or exclusive sovereignty, but from relation, inclusion, and co-belonging.

Mohammed Abed al-Jabri

For having developed an internal critique of Arab reason, distinguishing living tradition from ossified tradition, and opening a space for ethical discernment free from both dogma and imitation.

Amartya Sen

For having shifted the question of justice toward the real capabilities of individuals to lead a dignified life, reminding us that normative frameworks only gain meaning when tested against lived human experience.

Martha Nussbaum

For having deepened a conception of human dignity grounded in the concrete conditions of human flourishing, embedding ethics and justice within an anthropology attentive to vulnerability and real possibility.

Viviane de Beaufort

For having examined contemporary governance at the intersection of law, ethics, and real decision-making, highlighting the persistent gap between formal compliance and lived responsibility.

Edgar Morin

For having defended a philosophy of complexity that resists systemic simplification, and for reminding us that any form of governance severed from the living social fabric is destined to blindness.

Why this page exists

This constellation is neither a pantheon, nor a committee, nor an ideological statement. It indicates a field of resonance. The list presented here is not exhaustive and does not claim to encompass all the intellectual sources that inform Govonos' reflection.

Govonos does not invoke these bodies of thought to legitimate itself, but to locate itself. They form an intellectual backdrop, a space of breathing, and a constant reminder that governance never precedes consciousness, and that systems are only as valuable as the human life they allow to emerge.

© 2025 Govonos Institute. All rights reserved.

The Institute of Tangible Governance

Geneva – Switzerland

Route de Meyrin 267, CH - 1217 Meyrin-Genève

Point de contact pour la protection des données

Acta non verba.