Rafael Velasco
Media Subcultures 159
12/13/18
Luddites
Technology is embedded in everything we do in life, whether we like it or not. There are those who are fascinated by the idea and others oblivious to it. Those who are completely against the idea are call luddites. This subculture (Neo-Luddism) emerged in the early 1800’s by mythical leader, who was said to exist, named Ned Ludd.
Beginning in 1811, a group of textile workers saw that their jobs were at risk. New machines began to develop and were put to use in their workplaces. As soon as news began to spread and workers were laid off, a group of textile employees took a stand. They burned and smashed power looms and frames all across northern England in an act of rebellion against the machines that had replaced them and the employers who had fired them. After seven years it was the end of this movement but a start of a new subculture, a subculture we still see today.
Ned Ludd was a leader of the luddites but there is no actual proof he existed according to researchers. His name came from an apprentice weaver who smashed a loom because he was angry at his employer who had harassed home. The luddites created a song to him, relating to the Robin Hood myth.
“No more chant your old rhymes about old Robin Hood
His feats I do little admire
I'll sing the achievements of General Ludd
Now the hero of Nottingham Shire
Those engines of mischief were sentenced to die
By unanimous vote of the trade
And Ludd who cannot a position defy
Was the grand executioner made
Whether guarded by soldiers along the highway
Or closely secured in a room
He shivers them up by night and by day
And nothing can soften their doom
Shall the whole team of humble no longer oppressed
And shall Ludd sheath his conquering sword
Be his grievance instantly met with redress
Than peace shall be quickly restored
Let the wise and the great lend their aid and advice
Never ere their assistance withdraw
Till full-fashioned work at the old-fashioned price
Is established by custom and law”
The Napoleonic wars took place from 1803 to 1815. During this time the luddites faced many hardships, as the wars changed England's trade policies with other countries. It all started when the United States issued the Embargo Act. They interrupted trade with foreign countries which caused a rise of manufacturing and new technology. These new innovations soon traveled to England and replaced the jobs of many textile workers.
The luddites first noticeable act of rebellion took place Arnold, Nottingham in 1811. “The Luddites became typical for the period, rebelling against the threats to their livelihood, attempting to find a position in which they could barter for better conditions and wages and most importantly not lose their place in the chain of production.” (3).
In February of 1812 the Frame Breaking Act was issued by parliament to the Luddites this act said that anyone who was caught smashing frames would be killed. The parliament also sent about 12,000 troops to the place where luddite riots were common. This Act however had little to no effect on the luddites aggression towards the employers and machines. That same year hundreds of machines demolished and the government came to a conclusion that this movement or the frustration wasn't going away for a while. During the discussion about the bill Lord Byron in English and grounded poet, who was very influential through his words, made a famous speech in the luddites defense at the House of Lords. In his speech Lord Byron said
“By the adoption of one species of frame in particular, one man performed the work of many and the superfluous laborers were thrown out of employment. Yet it is to be observed, that the work thus executed was inferior in quality, not marketable at home, and merely hurried over with a view to exploration. It was called, in the can’t of the trade, by the name Spider-work, in the blindness of their ignorance, instead of rejoicing at these improvements in arts so beneficial to mankind, conceived themselves to be sacrificed to improvements in mechanism.” (4).
Raymond Boudon, a sociologist at Paris-Sorbonne University, wrote in his book, Analysis of Ideology, “ The luddites did indeed understand the advantages which mechanization would bring, their machine wrecking was an attempt to show the owners of the new textile mills that they were a force to be reckoned with, that they had a ’nuisance value’. By acting in this way, they main objective was to gain concessions from the employers. This strategic interpretation of the luddite movement is confirmed by the fact that the workers often destroyed only those machines which were turning out faulty goods, it was still tru of course, that a worker who went on strike could easily be replaced by somebody from the army of breakers, at the time when nascent trade unionism was harshly suppressed. Since machine breaking brought the factory to a halt, it was not only a functional substitute for striking, it was also much more effective.”
Boudon tells us that the Luddites were fully aware of their actions. Once they destroyed the machines they knew they'd be needed like they once did for labor. Their actions were done hatred but were also planned out strategically.
In Yorkshire in January 1812 the luddites attempted to destroy William Rawfold’s Mill. Unfortunately the attack had failed because Rawfold had heard and had sent troop to guard the mill. Two Luddites were killed to which cause more riots. This attack was seen as a turning point in Yorkshire, says a leeds newspaper (5). Charlotte Bronte described some of the events in this attack in her book Shirley. She said, “Misery generates hate. These sufferers hated the machines which they believed took their bread from them; they hated the buildings which contained those machines; they hated the manufacturers who owned those machines.” (6). Bronte explains truly why the luddites deeply hated anyone or anything involving the loss of their jobs.
In historians Eric Hobsbawm, The Machine Breakers, he writes,
“There can, of course, be doubt of the great feeling of opposition to new machines – a well founded sentiment, in the opinion of no less an authority than the great Ricardo. Yet three observations ought to be made. First, this hostility was neither so indiscriminate nor so specific as has often been assumed. Second, with local or sectional exceptions, it was surprisingly weak in practice. Lastly, it was by no means confined to workers, but was shared by the great mass of public opinion, including many manufacturers.” (7).
Hobsbawm communicates that the riots were more of an act of symbolism than an act of hatred or destruction. He also explains that even though the Luddites were only a small group of people many of them had their own ideas and opinions about how they felt towards their frame smashing riots.
Luddism influenced lots of other protestors. Like in the early mid 1800’s with the Rebecca Riots. These riots were a series of protects against poor conditions in the rural areas of Wales. (8) We also had the swing riots in the 1830s, which consisted of widespread uprising by agricultural workers in southern and eastern england, in protest of agricultural mechanization and harsh working conditions. This also lead to the destruction of machinery. (9)
There was a man by the name of Ted Kaczynski also as the Unabomber. He participated in a worldwide bombing campaign against modern technology, “planting or mailing numerous homemade bombs, killing three people and injuring 23 others”. In 1995 in his manifesto, Industrial Society and Its Future, Kaczynski states: “The kind of revolution we have in mind will not necessarily involve an armed uprising against any government. It may or may not involve physical violence, but it will not be a POLITICAL revolution. Its focus will be on technology and economics, not politics.” (10)
The luddites greatest outcome was the effects it had on other movements or that it changed the way people in England viewed workers rights. Another outcome of what Luddism is Neo Luddism or the opposition to any technological or scientific innovations we still see today.
Work Cited
(1) Index. Luddite (n.). November 8, 2018.
(2) DiscoverTec. Past, Present and Future: The Evolution of Technology. November 18, 2018
(3) Historic UK. The Luddites. November 8, 2018.
(4) Luddites at 200. November 2, 2018.
(5) Sperry Ball Turrent. November 8, 2018.
(6) Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre, Shirely, Villette, the Professor: four novels. Barnes and Noble. 2006.
(7) Hobsbawm, Eric. The Machine Breakers. February, 1952.
(8) BBC. History – Themes – The Rebecca Riots. November 12, 2018.
(9) Causes of the First Wolrd War. The Peel Web. November 12, 2018.
(10) The Washington Post: Unabomber Special Report: Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore Kaczynski