Next month the Luddites200 Organising Forum are holding an open meeting in London entitled "Celebrating the 200 Anniversary of the Luddite Uprisings: Technology Politics Then and Now", the first of many to come over the next 18 months. Well let the blurb speak for itself:
In 1811-12 Artisan cloth workers in the Midlands and North of England rose up against factory owners who were imposing new machines and putting them out of work. Since the 1950s the Luddites have been painted as fools opposed to all technology and progress, but in fact the Luddites were very selective in their attacks, breaking only machines they thought were 'Hurtful to Commonality'.
What can the Luddites teach us about the ongoing use of technology to replace workers' jobs, as well as issues like GM food and nuclear power? Can we escape the myth that technology always brings progress? On the anniversary of the first action against a GM crop site in Britain, come and discuss the issues with speakers from the Luddites200 Organising Forum, Stop GM, a trade union activist, and the Stop Nuclear Network.
PLUS! Luddite entertainment
The meeting is being held on Wednesday 8th June at the Feminist Library in Lambeth and starts at 7 p.m. Residing in the Luddite heartlands, we are unable to make it, but would welcome any report back from anyone else who can attend. For more details, see our events page.
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Sunday, 15 May 2011
'What did the Luddites ever do for us? A 200th anniversary workshop' – 2nd June 2011, King’s Place, London
Although it's not entirely clear what the aim of the meeting is, the programme tells us "there will the opportunity to read short sections of Luddite, or Luddite inspired, prose or poetry (sic)" and also talk about "what Luddism means to me." SPEAKS also says that it is involved in a project with the Food Ethics Council to "democratic control over science and technology associated with the food system (sic)."
The meeting takes place between 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Thursday, 2nd June at King's Place in London. The organisers are keen to facilitate access to the meeting via Skype or similar methods - see the programme for more details.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Review: John Beckett 'The Luddites: 200 Years On', for the Thoroton Society of Nottingham
Having never attended any meeting of a local history society before, I didn't know what to expect from this event - other than perhaps the stereotype of what such occasions may be like: average age mid sixties, tweeds, conservative ('small c' and 'big C'). The stereotypes didn't let me down after all. Despite my valiant attempt to lower the average age by 25 years or so, I was simply outnumbered - the organisers had underestimated the interest, and extra seats were called for.
What we got was a talk with a very high quota of dates and names and events, but with perhaps less analysis than you'd expect of a professor of history. In the circumstances, he was probably giving this audience what they wanted, and there is a lot to get through in a potted history of Midlands Luddism after all. A scholar of Luddism wouldn't have learned too much that was new here, but one nugget that did come out of it for me and explained a lot was the contemporary legal limitations on the Nottingham authorities which prevented an effective response to the events of Arnold on 11th March 1811: the Nottingham City authorities simply had no remit to stray over the Nottinghamshire County borders without obtaining permission from the Home Office - obviously impossible at such short notice.
Given that one of the Thoroton Society's most famous scholars is the author of several works about Luddism, Malcolm Thomis, it's perhaps unsurprising then that the conclusion that John Beckett reached chimes with Thomis' ultimately conservative historical analysis - that the Luddites were simply opposed to change, and that any resistance to innovation can only succeed in the short-term. There's a certain amount of truth to that - Luddites did oppose changes that would reduce them to penury & destitution, and who can blame them? Thomis saw the Luddites as apolitical and reactionary, and whilst Beckett didn't exactly go quite that far, one joke aimed at his conservative audience ('small c' but particularly 'big C') went down well, but was actually ahistorical and ignorant - he joked that perhaps local miners and Arthur Scargill had Luddite DNA, given the Miners' Strike of 1984-1985 . No doubt E.P. Thompson would delight in the parallels being drawn between the potentially revolutionary actions of Miners in the 1980s and the pseudo-revolutionary actions of the Luddites 170 years before, but that isn't what Beckett meant. The irony is that Nottinghamshire was the home of the scab Union, the Union of Democratic of Mineworkers - whilst their members may well indeed be ancestors of Nottinghamshire Luddites, their actions in breaking the strike 25 years ago prove they have nothing else in common with them, a parallel conveniently missed by professor Beckett.
In the meantime, let's hope there's a veritable festival of events to look forward to in Nottingham come November 2011, the anniversary of things getting really serious in the area 200 years ago.
What we got was a talk with a very high quota of dates and names and events, but with perhaps less analysis than you'd expect of a professor of history. In the circumstances, he was probably giving this audience what they wanted, and there is a lot to get through in a potted history of Midlands Luddism after all. A scholar of Luddism wouldn't have learned too much that was new here, but one nugget that did come out of it for me and explained a lot was the contemporary legal limitations on the Nottingham authorities which prevented an effective response to the events of Arnold on 11th March 1811: the Nottingham City authorities simply had no remit to stray over the Nottinghamshire County borders without obtaining permission from the Home Office - obviously impossible at such short notice.
Given that one of the Thoroton Society's most famous scholars is the author of several works about Luddism, Malcolm Thomis, it's perhaps unsurprising then that the conclusion that John Beckett reached chimes with Thomis' ultimately conservative historical analysis - that the Luddites were simply opposed to change, and that any resistance to innovation can only succeed in the short-term. There's a certain amount of truth to that - Luddites did oppose changes that would reduce them to penury & destitution, and who can blame them? Thomis saw the Luddites as apolitical and reactionary, and whilst Beckett didn't exactly go quite that far, one joke aimed at his conservative audience ('small c' but particularly 'big C') went down well, but was actually ahistorical and ignorant - he joked that perhaps local miners and Arthur Scargill had Luddite DNA, given the Miners' Strike of 1984-1985 . No doubt E.P. Thompson would delight in the parallels being drawn between the potentially revolutionary actions of Miners in the 1980s and the pseudo-revolutionary actions of the Luddites 170 years before, but that isn't what Beckett meant. The irony is that Nottinghamshire was the home of the scab Union, the Union of Democratic of Mineworkers - whilst their members may well indeed be ancestors of Nottinghamshire Luddites, their actions in breaking the strike 25 years ago prove they have nothing else in common with them, a parallel conveniently missed by professor Beckett.
In the meantime, let's hope there's a veritable festival of events to look forward to in Nottingham come November 2011, the anniversary of things getting really serious in the area 200 years ago.
Friday, 11 March 2011
John Beckett - The Luddites: 200 Years On - a lecture in Nottingham tomorrow
John Beckett, the Chair of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, is giving a talk tomorrow in Nottingham on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings today. Entitled 'The Luddites: 200 Years On', this is the Maurice Barley Lecture. Here's the blurb from the press release:
The lecture is being held at Nottingham Mechanics Institute at 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham NG1 4EZ at 2.45 p.m. The venue has full disabled access and facilities. A bookstall is available from 2.15 p.m.
In March 1811, two hundred years ago, the first stocking frames were broken by protesters who came to be called Luddites. In this lecture, John Beckett will recall the events of 200 years ago, the context in which they occurred, and the legacy of the Luddite disturbances in and around Nottingham and Loughborough.Scholars of the Luddites will know that the Thoroton Society issued a fine publication from their 'Record Series' in 1972 by the historian Malcolm Thomis. Entitled 'Luddism in Nottinghamshire', the slim volume features transcripts of official government correspondence, Luddite threatening letters, reports of direct action etc. Whilst it's not as extensive as Kevin Binfield's 'Writings of the Luddites', it is equally essential, though it is long out of print.
The lecture is being held at Nottingham Mechanics Institute at 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham NG1 4EZ at 2.45 p.m. The venue has full disabled access and facilities. A bookstall is available from 2.15 p.m.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Adrian Randall - 'Engines of Mischief' at Dulwich Picture Gallery tomorrow
The latest in the Dulwich Contextual Lecture Series takes place tomorrow, 22nd February, on the theme of the Luddite uprisings.
Professor Adrian Randall is giving a lecture, entitled "Engines of Mischief" (the title is a line from the song 'General Ludd's Triumph') about the Luddite Disturbances of 1811/1812. We have little other details of the lecture, but Professor Randall has written extensively about the Luddites in a number of publications over the years so it should be very much worth attending if you are in London. Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited, price £10.
The lecture takes place at 10.30 a.m. and lasts for an hour. Dulwich Picture Gallery is at Gallery Road, London, SE21 7AD. A Google map of the location is here.
Professor Adrian Randall is giving a lecture, entitled "Engines of Mischief" (the title is a line from the song 'General Ludd's Triumph') about the Luddite Disturbances of 1811/1812. We have little other details of the lecture, but Professor Randall has written extensively about the Luddites in a number of publications over the years so it should be very much worth attending if you are in London. Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited, price £10.
The lecture takes place at 10.30 a.m. and lasts for an hour. Dulwich Picture Gallery is at Gallery Road, London, SE21 7AD. A Google map of the location is here.
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