Enter the Neo-Luddites: Transcendence, The Singularity, and Technological Resistance

Enter the Neo-Luddites: Transcendence, The Singularity, and Technological Resistance

On January 15, 1813, fourteen men were hanged outside York Castle in England for crimes associated with technological activism. It was the largest number of people ever hanged in a single day at the castle. These hangings were a decisive move against an uprising protesting the impacts of increased mechanization, one that became known as the Luddite movement after its alleged leader, Ned Ludd.

Social inequity in an age of technological extremes (from chapter six of Films from the Future)

Social inequity in an age of technological extremes (from chapter six of Films from the Future)

On September 17, 2011, a small group of social activists occupied Zuccotti Park in New York City. The occupation became the spearhead for the global “Occupy” movement, protesting a growing disparity between “haves” and “have-nots” within society. Two years later, the movie Elysium built on this movement as it sought to reveal the potential injustices of a technologically sophisticated future where a small group of elites live in decadent luxury at the expense of the poor.