Stop the machines: the rise of anti-technology extremism CSTPV Seminar

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 civilisation? In the first exploration of this phenomenon, Dr Mauro Lubrano traces the origins and evolution of anti-technology violence across the globe and identifies three main groups fuelling such resistance: insurrectionary anarchists, ecoextremists and ecofascists.

Exploring the justifications that underlie the opposition to technology and the strategies employed to ‘stop the machines', Mauro shows how antitech 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.

Dr Mauro Lubrano is Lecturer in International Relations and Politics in the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies at the University of Bath. His research on political violence and terrorism, anti-technology politics and innovation processes in violent non-state actors has been published in several journals, including Terrorism & Political Violence, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, and Perspectives on Terrorism. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews.