Main content

Were the Luddites Right?

In an audience event held at The Sage Gateshead, Rana Mitter chairs a debate about the Luddite movement, to mark its 200th anniversary.

Rana Mitter chairs a debate about the Luddite Movement to mark their 200th anniversary.

Two hundred years ago this November, artisans in the North of England started protesting against new machines that were destroying their way of life. Inspired by the mythic King Ludd, the Luddites have been condemned by history as standing on the wrong side of progress - but their legacy persists. So what did they want and what does it mean to be a Luddite in today's digital age?

Debaters include the historian of the Luddites Katrina Navickas, 麻豆官网首页入口 technology correspondent Bill Thompson and fellow of the New Economics Foundation Andrew Simms.

Recorded at The Sage Gateshead in front of a live audience at the 2011 Free Thinking Festival.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Tue 22 Nov 2011 22:00

Broadcast

  • Tue 22 Nov 2011 22:00

Featured in...

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

You can download all the past episodes of Radio 3's Free Thinking

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Angry politics, what we can鈥檛 say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Angry politics, what we can鈥檛 say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

We examine the fast-changing relationship between the individual & the crowd

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival

Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life