Labor phenomena: the luddite movement

England. The beginning of the 19th century. Industrialization is evolving. 1811. English (e.g. textile industry) workers break into factories to destroy machines. They are outraged about low salaries, poor working conditions and they are afraid that machines would de-skill their jobs or make them redundant. A certain mr. Ned Ludd is said to be amongst those who inspired the riots, but that is probably a legend. The luddite movement spread to various part of England during 1812. Parliament passed a law according to which machine breaking was to be punished with death penalty. Several riots were violent, both workers and factory owners were killed. Famine, the Napoleon wars (which disturbed export of textiles) and high wheat prices contributed to an even more aggravated situation, involving many riots, and many people were killed.

Nowadays, to be a 'luddite' usually signifies that one is opposed to technology. The term is often used pejoratively. Still, when I google the term I come upon a very diverse assortment of contemporary writers and activists. One of the few whom I've read is Jaques Ellul, a French writer (The technological society) who describes a society penetrated by technique. By 'tecnique' he refers to a mechanical, rational or even blind preoccupation with means - the ends, to which they are associated, do not concern this perspective of technique. Ellul's book challenge us to think about the different sectors of society that are driven by a 'technological' logic, for which the sole objective is EFFICIENCY.

Speaking of tech-scepticism: I'm happy to have bumped into this blog. A tiny little counterbalance to the massive amount of blogs dedicated to gizmo & gadgets.

Valerie Solanas also talked about fucking-up work. Non-work, refusal to work, and destruction of machines, are integral part of her SCUM Manifesto. In that sense, also she may be called a present-day luddite.

I also come to think of other forms of rejections of today's system of work. Paul Lafargue's The right to be lazy is accessible as a book and there are also homepages like this one. There is also a popular self-help:ish book encouraging the reader to be lazy at the office, but I can't recall the name of that book.

Here's a useful place if you want to know more about all things luddite.