Stop the machines : the rise of anti-technology extremism / Mauro Lubrano.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lubrano, Mauro, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Technology--Social aspects.

Technology.

Technology and civilization.

Radicalism.

Artificial intelligence--Social aspects.

Artificial intelligence.

Physical Description:

vii, 194 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, NJ ; Cambridge, UK : Polity, 2025.

Summary:

As we stand on the cusp of an AI revolution, will we see the rise of a new anti-technology extremism that threatens to dismantle the gains of modern civilization? In the first exploration of this phenomenon, Mauro Lubrano traces the origins and evolution of anti-technology violence across the globe. He identifies three main groups fuelling such resistance: insurrectionary anarchists, eco-extremists, and eco-fascists. Exploring the justifications that underlie the opposition to technology and the strategies employed to 'stop the machines', he shows how anti-tech extremism has emerged as a reaction to the Anthropocene - an attempt to undo the epoch of human domination. The intellectual flexibility of this ideology lends itself to different causes, from the class struggle against the techno-elites to the defence of nature and white supremacy. With fears about the risks of artificial intelligence mounting and the world beset by serious 'polycrises', what is currently a fragmented, fringe phenomenon holds the potential for dramatic escalation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 132-189) and index.

ISBN:

9781509555734

1509555730

9781509555741

1509555749

OCLC:

1461831562