Klik op een omslag om naar Google Boeken te gaan.
|
Bezig met laden... Rebels Against The Future: The Luddites And Their War On The Industrial Revolution: Lessons For The Computer Agedoor Kirkpatrick Sale
   Geen Bezig met laden...
 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  plappen | Aug 12, 2007 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
This is the story of a bold uprising by the earliest victims of the first Industrial Revolution, viewed from the perspective of today's second Industrial Revolution, a vivid reminder that the current turmoil, driven by rapidly developing technologies and the global economy, is every bit as disruptive as the one created by the steam engine and laissez-faire. Rebels Against the Future is a work of careful scholarship, but it is also an exciting tale of people whose resistance to technology was so dramatic that their name has entered our vernacular. "Luddite" today refers to anyone unmoved by laptop computers and cellular phones, but this book reminds us that the Luddites were in fact real people, English working men who saw their livelihoods and homes, their communities and countryside, destroyed by the onrush of industrial capitalism. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen
 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)942.081History and Geography Europe England and Wales England 1837- Victoria 1837-1901LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.69)
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1
They worked out of their cottages or small craft shops. There was pride in their work. There was no boss or time clock to consider, so there were occasional ale breaks. They weren’t rich by any means, but, being part of a centuries-old tradition, they made a living. Machines came along which allowed one person to do the work of many. They were housed in multi-storied factories on the edge of town. Many textile workers lost their jobs, were forced off their land, and had no choice but to go to filthy, overcrowded cities to look for work (read Charles Dickens).
The Luddites (they took their name from their "leader," a mythical Ned Ludd) are thought of as some sort of anti-technology fanatics. Their problem was not with technology itself, but with technology that destroyed their way of life, technology that was for the benefit of the few, and to the detriment of the many. They rebelled in the only way they knew how, by smashing the machines that had destroyed their way of life. This went on for about 15 months, during which time no one snitched to the British Government, showing that the Luddites had a lot of sympathy among the public. The British stationed several thousand troops in the area, and eventually lowered the boom, with hanging judges, snitches, night time arrests, executing the innocent, etc, putting an end to this threat to industrial progress.
Today, there is a large and growing movement of people who do not believe that technology is automatically a good thing. Some believe that the entire concept of technology and society needs some radical re-thinking, while others are actively opposing particular pieces of "progress," like asbestos, nuclear weapons, aspartame or NAFTA/GATT.
This is a very interesting and well-done book. For anyone who believes in technology for the sake of technology, reading this book is a really good idea. It is time well spent. (