MEETING - LUDDITES REMEMBERED

proudly LUDDITE – OCCUPY now


SPEAKER FROM LUDDITE 200 INVITED

8 pm on 14 December, Wood Green Social Club, Stuart Crescent, N22 (normally in room 1)

(Just opposite the Civic Centre on the High Road, at the start of White Hart Lane, 50 yards from the main road. A 100 yard walk from the bus stop at Wood Green tube station, past the Wood Green bus depot)

We are celebrating that it is exactly 200 years since the clothing workers in northern counties who had tried talking to employers and politicians, were finally forced disguise themselves, take large hammers [Enochs – there is a picture of one on the blog] and start breaking up the new machines that had destroyed hundreds of jobs. They were not opposed to technology as such just machines that were crushing their livelihoods. After a brave revolt, that scared the ruling class, they failed and we know today that destruction does not work. Now we have to consider other methods for the widespread introduction of technology that threatens millions of jobs. Dockers, printers, and others have seen jobs eaten by new inventions and millions of others less publicised, are under threat. Today many think in terms of occupation of premises, property and equipment, to control their use and ensure production is for social need, not just profit.

Great Enoch - a weapon of choice

GREAT ENOCH

The 'Great Enoch,' was the name given to the sledge hammer that smashed the hated shearing frames. The sledge hammer was made by Enoch and James Taylor who ironically also made the shearing frames that were so effectively dismantled under the hammer's blows.


Such a weapon had its mythology which is remembered in the chants

'Enoch did make them, Enoch shall break them'

and

'Great Enoch still shall lead the van,
Stop him who dare! Stop him who can'

An original hammer head is held in the Matress Factory Museum in Pitts burgh PA, with the unfortunate curator's blurb:

"The vitrine in the centre of the room houses and iron sledgehammer head, specially the common type

 referred to as an Enoch Hammer. The tool sits alone ina room dark except for the spotlight on the case Rendered impotent by its treatment as a relic of tiem other than our own, the case is guarded by a security camera on each wall and a proximity-triggered alarm on the case. By rendering this former implement

of rebellion safe in plxiglass box in a quiet and guarded museum, the hammer head itself can in insured

against future inspiration and use."

ITS TIME TO LIBERATE THE HAMMERHEAD!

Luddites - Anniversary meeting and publication

Anniversary Meeting Luddite Uprisings: Technology Politics Then and Now

Venue: Feminist Library meeting room Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7XW.
Nearest tube Lambeth North.
Date: June 8th, 7pm
Organised by: Luddites200 Organising Forum

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.



The Land : special Issue : The Luddites
The Land magazine have published a special issue on the 200th annivesary of the Luddite uprising of 1811-13. The issue contains numerous articles on a range of themes including:

• Mr Lud's Song - Theo Simon traces the history of Luddism through the movement's songs
• King Ludd in the countryside - The Luddite rebellion in the industrial north was matched 19 years later by an even more widespresd uprsing in the rural south.
• Lessons from the Luddites - Kirkpatrick Sale reflects on the contemporary relevance of King Ludd's message
• Technology and equity - Simon Fairlie argues that new agricultural technologies are inherently inequitable
• Gandhi on technology - a selection of observations from the world's most successful Luddite

Available from Monkton Wyld Court, Charmouth, Bridport DT6 6DQ or see The Land is Ours website