The Neo-Luddites Module 3 Section 5

Neo-Luddites People who oppose all technological progress Views are tied to particular way of life for people Burned factories in response to industrial revolution

Specific Criticisms – Computers… Cause massive unemployment and deskilling of jobs Manufacture needs instead of fulfilling them Cause social inequity and disintegration Separate humans from nature Destroy the environment Are dehumanizing – lead to isolation

Specific Criticisms – Computers… Benefit big business Benefit government When used in schools will thwart development of social skills, human values, intellectual skills Do little to solve real human problems

Luddites and Other Negative Views Capitalism Business Markets Consumer products Factories Other modern forms of work Clocks

Are the Luddites Alone? Many have negative views of computers and the associated technologies

New Luddites Definition & links History Article Research Example http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~socs203/luddites.htm Definition & links http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/luddite.html History http://www.gober.net/victorian/reports/luddites.html Lessons from the Luddites http://www.io.com/~wazmo/luddite.html Article http://www.well.com/user/futrelle/unabom.html Research http://www.cs.swt.edu/~donshafer/web_biblios/luddites.htm Example http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19991018luddites1.asp