Σπάζοντας πράγματα στη δουλειά: Οι λουδίτες ήξεραν γιατί μισείς τη δουλειά σου

by Gavin Mueller, Γιώργος Καλαμπόκας (Translator), Αντώνης Φάρας (Translator)

Πώς επηρεάζει η τεχνολογία την εργασία και τις εργαζόμενες; Είναι η εισαγωγή τεχνολογικών καινοτομιών στην παραγωγή και τις εργασιακές μεθόδους μια διαδικασία αντικειμενικά προοδευτική, που δίνει τη δυνατότητα για λιγότερη και λιγότερο κοπιαστική εργασία ωθώντας έτσι δυνητικά προς έναν «κομμουνισμό της πολυτέλειας»; Ή πρόκειται μήπως για κάποια ουδέτερη τεχνική πρακτική, της οποίας το αποτύπωμα εξαρτάται αποκλειστικά από τον τρόπο χρήσης της εκάστοτε τεχνολογίας;

Ο Γκάβιν Μιούλλερ επιστρέφει στο ιστορικό κίνημα των λουδιτών για να ανασυνθέσει το υπόγειο ρεύμα μιας ιστορίας εργατικών αγώνων ενάντια στην εμπέδωση των σχέσεων εξουσίας στους χώρους εργασίας με όχημα την τεχνολογική καινοτομία. Φωτίζει έτσι τον απωθημένο λουδισμό των καθημερινών κινημάτων αντίστασης στην εκμηχάνιση, την αυτοματοποίηση και την κυβερνοποίηση που αντηχεί μέχρι τις μέρες μας, παροτρύνοντάς μας να αναμετρηθούμε με την αναδιοργάνωση του εργασιακού και του ελεύθερου χρόνου, να φρενάρουμε την εντεινόμενη εκμετάλλευση, να διεκδικήσουμε εκ νέου τη γνώση και τον έλεγχο επί του προϊόντος και των συνθηκών της εργασίας μας με δυο λόγια, να «σπάσουμε μηχανές».


ΠΕΡΙΕΧΟΜΕΝΑ
Σημείωμα της έκδοσης
Ευχαριστίες
Εισαγωγή
- Οι νύχτες του βασιλιά Λουντ
- Μάστορες, τεϋλοριστές, λουφαδόροι, Γουόμπς: Να δούμε ποιος θα φαγωθεί
- Ενάντια στην αυτοματοποίηση
- Χάι-τεκ λουδισμός
- Συμπέρασμα
Σημείωμα της μετάφρασης
Ευρετήριο κύριων ονομάτων

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Technology, Labor, Philosophy, Economics

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2021

About the author

Gavin Mueller is an assistant Professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam and the author of Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job .

Reviews

[Kaleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book, although I wish I did. It was full with history and theory and made a solid case for luddism as a means to (re)gain control of one's work and life. However, for a book with a caveman title like, "Breaking Things at Work," it was severely dense. I was expecting and hoping for a more colloquial and rallying read, but every time I opened it back up I had to make sure to put on my academic hat or else I'd totally zone out. I would honestly caution that this is a book for Marxists, or people who have a background interpreting Marxist language and concepts. I wish that I could but I feel that I could not hand this book off to any co-worker and hope we agree to start sabotaging things in the workplace. That said, as an addition to the other Marxist literature on my bookshelf, it fits in well. Some of my favorite parts concerned the progression of Taylorism and workers' responses to it, and most of chapter 4 on "High-tech luddism," which I absolutely devoured and wished had gone on for longer.

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this... The 20th Century socialist tradition was led by social-democratic and Marxist-Leninist officials who emphasized total mobilization of labour to meet strategic goals and consumer demands. This logic runs contrary to the everyday experiences of many workers. The use of technology to intensify or displace work has often made the process worse for people involved and multiplied the power of managers. The idea that a planned economy would make work pleasant in itself is now a marginal belief. In response, writers have either imagined that labour could disappear from the equation or at least that new forms of computerized rationalization could reduce hours worked. But Mueller offers good reasons to believe that this technology of control has to be contested and resisted more directly. For Marxists, the obvious place to start is that workers do in fact resist and complain, and have for many years. It's good to be reminded to listen to them.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves a better review than I can give right now, but here goes nothing.

Suffice to say that while I was reading the book, I thought of a lot of people who I wanted to send copies to, because it touches on problems of human autonomy in a digitally mediated and increasingly digitally *constrained* age. In other words, it is relevant to pretty much all of us (including a lot of us who don’t think that automation and AI will come for *them*). It builds a compelling argument that (if nothing else) we should be thinking hard about why and how people actively break technology. I was less convinced by the book’s ultimate conclusion that we should be going substantially backwards in technology, for a variety of reasons—but those reasons deserve, and might even get, a whole essay. And that ultimately feels like quibbling—the core thrust of the book is important, timely, and forceful. As a result it’s a book worth reading and grappling with.

A note on style and accessibility: Given the topic, and that the author is an academic Marxist, this could have been dense and unreadable. Instead it is brisk, pretty tightly edited, and jargon-free. If you’re concerned about that, don’t be - pick it up.

[Tasos Droulias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ναι οι λουδίτες είχαν τα χίλια δίκια και ναι πρέπει να είμαστε λουδιτες απέναντι στη ψηφιακή οικονομική κυριαρχία. Που σημαίνει όχι μόνο να απαιτούμε τον κοινωνικό έλεγχο της τεχνολογίας αλλά και το να μην ανεχόμαστε μαλακίες.

Ο Mueller χώρεσε σε ένα μικρό βιβλίο έναν τόσο σύνθετο διάλογο μεταξύ εποχών. Αξίζει να μεταφραστεί.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides a good starting point for developing an anti-work, tech-critical marxist luddism, which is very much my thing. Good to see Ivan Illich making an appearance and a critical stance towards cybernetics. Decelerationists unite!

[Chananja · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting & clear overview of modern luddism's anti-work notions & possibilities. starts off with some marxist history that reads a little dull - when starting a book like this you know a discussion of marx's ideas just.. has to.. be there.. ...i skimmed over it. however, the ensuing discussion of intersections of modern technologies and class struggles was very immersive, and read very comprehensive with an authoritative balance between theory and examples. though a little short, and i would've liked more consideration of ?luddist tehcnology? and human-technology/mediation relations (there is a chapter that deals with consumers as laborers, humans as robots, taskification, etc.), it was a very fresh explanation of luddism as a class struggle, as having so much to do with autonomy and power

[Rolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

it picks up after the first chapter where he's settling beefs with other marxist histories.

luddism is not about knee-jerk reaction to reject technology (no problem with that anyway) but about maintaining autonomy over how you labor. pulls in insights from Black and feminist analyses. compelling stuff.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world dominated by technophilia with its fantasies of liberation and the rejuvenation of lifestyles, where forces on both the left and the right continue to see technology as neutral, it is a welcome text that reminds us that not only do any of these debates skip over the power dynamics of capitalism but also that many aspects of the technology are not innocent.

Meuller’s case turns on two strands. First, he argues that two aspects of technological developments interact to reinforce each other, in that many of the technological developments of the last century or so are not only used to enhance the status of the already powerful, but that they have also changed the nature of work recasting the labour process. Second, he sets out to recover the history of workers’ opposition to new technologies as contested both analyses and practical, workplace struggles.

It is a refreshing argument that makes a case that slowness, or at least slowing down, is a vital part of struggles for workplace control and for the workers’ movement. There are at least two vital components to this slowing down; first it is a question of workers’ control over their jobs, including the content and form of that work, and second it is an issue of justice and health in work where labour remains a social process and practice. Equally importantly, Meuller is making a case for analysts to listen to workers, to hear their rejection of the increasing technologisation of their lives in both what they say and what they do, and to develop approaches and understandings based in that, rather than trying to impose outlooks and therefore strategies and tactics.

It is this second aspect I found most refreshing in that it is based in a weaving together of workers’ struggles from the time of the Luddites onwards suggesting 200 years of rejection of new technologies in the interests of both living standards and dignity. Mueller also effectively weaves into this narrative discussions of debates on the left, and in doing so makes clear just how dominant technophilia has been. In doing so he also manages to build what might usually seem counterintuitive links, associating, for instance, loom breaking and free source software.

All in all, it is an engaging and invigorating analysis that rebuts technological utopians and reminds us of the power of everyday working class resistance.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good case for understanding technology not as a neutral force capable of securing greater worker leisure via labor automation, but as a weapon wielded by the capitalist class to maximize profits by exploiting, disciplining, and dividing workers. written very accessibly and backs up its more theoretical sections with concrete examples. assiduously avoids lapsing into technological determinist arguments, but clearly demonstrates how uncritical embraces of technological progress end up degrading quality of work (and life).

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suffers from the usual issue with overt Marxicologist screed: the requisite, mind-numbing epistemology of every point, every nuance; the never-ending appeal to the sacrosanct authority of Marx—did HE say / not say / ignore / regard / opine / spit upon it?

I get it, to an extent. But at the end of the day, why should we care if a particular thought has been blessed by the priesthood or not? If ideas are worthy of consideration for individuals and societies, why must we draw their origin back to Marx?

The driving reason the left can’t get our shit together: Pedantic Marxists.

[Lilly Irani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for tech workers, and also a good introduction to Marxist thinking about class composition that connects to workers' experiences of everyday life.

[F.E. Beyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very informative book. I learned a lot. Many of us think Luddites are people who suck at using computers. This is not the case. A Luddite resents and takes action against machines that make our lives worse. The author states he would like to convert Marxists to Luddism. I'm not sure the invitation was extended to non-Marxists. This was my main problem here: the author assumes he has a leftwing audience - a safe assumption, but writing with this in mind weakens his arguments.

[Tjabo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kort, lättläst kritik av teknikoptimismen som automatiseringsströmningen bygger sina teorier på. mueller visar hur tekniken inte alls är neutral, utan ett redskap för att flytta makt och kontroll från arbetare, och hur den intensifierar exploateringen snarare än befriar. ganska intressanta historiska exempel på hur splittrade arbetarkollektiv (innan fack och massarbetaren) kunde formera sig genom att använda och sprida gemensamma metoder, såsom sabotage.

[Alasdair Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting history, particularly for me around how widespread support was for Taylorism and technocracy in the early twentieth century, even on the left (and beyond the famous case of Lenin).

I'm very sympathetic to the critique of the accelerationists, are the collaboration of mainstream unions, and the support for more spontaneous sabotage by workers, but I'm always a little unconvinced how this workplace resistance is meant to generalise. The conclusion was very good, however, actually pointing to some really existing tendencies and organising to support.

[Patrick Balogh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me, reading this book: "See, I'm not a tech curmudgeon, I'm actually a principled Marxist."

[foteini_dl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ο Μιούλερ, ξεκινώντας από τους λουδίτες και φτάνοντας μέχρι τους χάκερ, μιλάει απλά για το πώς οι τεχνολογικές καινοτομίες στους εργασιακούς κλάδους ωφελούν οικονομικά τους εργοδότες και τους κάνουν πιο δυνατούς, ενώ οι εργαζόμενες και οι εργαζόμενοι χάνουν περισσότερο τον όποιο έλεγχο της εργασίας τους.
Αν και διαφωνώ με κάποιες απόψεις του συγγραφέα (ίσως του πώς τις εκφράζει) αλλά δεν μπορώ να διαφωνήσω ότι χρειάζεται να έχουμε κριτική στάση (και) απέναντι στην τεχνολογία. Την εποχή της κλιματικής κρίσης και της "ποιότητας" ζωής, αυτή η στάση είναι μάλλον πιο απαραίτητη από ποτέ.

[TNVR · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the one hand, this is an essential book that makes a clear, convincing case for the value of Luddite politics and tactics and that any Marxism worth its salt (i.e. that begins from proletarian struggles and their immanent content) must be Luddite. The Marxian critique of technology is incredibly important and it’s great to have so many recent books and essays coming out lately that move us past the post-operaist dead end popular Marxist theorizing about technology has been in since the late 1990s (besides Mueller’s book, I’m also thinking of “Error” in the recent issue of Endnotes, Jason Smith’s Smart Machines and Service Work, and Aaron Benanav’s Automation and the Future of Work). On the other hand, Verso Books seems to have made a commitment over the past few years towards releasing short, easily digestible books for people just getting into Marxist theory (presumably because of the Sanders campaign) and, as a result, capable authors with important things to say seem to end up having to reduce theories and histories that call for extended elaboration into simple soundbytes that can be easily quoted at a DSA meeting (or whatever). This is part of a trend in publishing generally—academic books increasingly are about just developing one, sexy new concept (usually some variant on biopolitics or a modifier added onto “neoliberalism” or “capitalism”) for other academics to cite)—but it is nonetheless depressing to read such a short, compressed book on as important a subject as this (and by an author who clearly has lots to say).

[Frank D'hanis junior · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the debate on technology between two groups of Marxists. The accelarationists believe that if the pace of technology can be increased even more that this will lead to (at least the possibility of) a communist utopia, wherein we have so much leisure that we can be workfree. The accelerationists' position is quite utopian, since what they propose is obviously not the case right now and we even seem to drift away more and more from the rich soil of an egalitarian world. The group that Gavin Mueller represents is very critical of this thought and they seems to attach more weight to what has actually already occurred in history than to these utopian projection. Mueller presents a quite astute and sturdy analysis of the history of the reception of technological innovation, starting with the Luddites in the textile industry in England in the early 19th century, until the free software movement of the 1980's and 90's and the hacker oriented anti-culture of right now. You can read Marx in a number of ways on this subject, and there is no definitive answer as to which position he took, he seemed to be mostly ambiguous about it (although in the Grundrisse he seems to point towards the accelerationist view), so there seems to be a lot of division about what to make of technology amongst Marxists. I tend to the accelerationist position myself even when I do see that people like Bastani and his fully automated luxury communism (my next read) take this too far and can be almost blind to the actual abuses of workers by very wealthy people in wielding technology. I also feel very strongly that it is true that symbolic laborers are controlled through technology, like self-phones, there is a self-disciplining going on right now that Foucault hadn't foreseen. We shouldn't be so blind as to not see these things, but Mueller takes it a bit too far and he even comes off as a bit ridiculous when he claims that consumers who have to selfcheck-out in the supermarket steal and destroy this tech because they hate that they have to do the labor done for them themselves now. As I see it tech can in principle be quite neutral and even a blessing for mankind (as Marx himself seemed to concede in the Grundrisse) but it is the usurpation of the technology to create surplus value that turns it foul most oft. A clear example of this is the coronavirus vaccine. Saving people of becoming sick? Great in itself. Put playing a geopolitical game to maximize profit and withold it from certain parts of the world is not. It is also not okay if the only incentive to vaccinate is having healthy workers to ensure larger (or at least not dwindling) profits. We need to address these problems, but this is not necessarily a plea for a decelerationist approach, as Mueller does propose.

[Agasthya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched, (mostly) well-argued repudiation of FALC - glad I read these back to back. Mueller pierces Bastani's balloon by looking at how workers have interacted with technology - specifically, automation - in the past and in the present, and comes to a compelling, surprising (to me) conclusion: that the promise of automation making our lives easier has never been true. In fact, historical evidence shows the opposite to be true. The only thing keeping this short, dense, book from five stars is that for me, it failed to paint a rousing picture of the future. I know that was somewhat the point; the Marx quote at the end talks about needing to focus on the struggles of today, but it left me wanting more. Also, the large tent of Luddism, as defined by Mueller, makes it difficult to know *what* to do: is Luddism sabotage? Is it outright destruction of machines? Software pirating? It's all of these things, sure, but then what will the future be? Each of those techniques come embedded with their own ideologies and vision of the future - their only similarity is the varying levels of defiance and consciousness of techno-capitalism. While Mueller did an excellent job arguing his point that we need to upend the current state of technology in the workplace, I was left feeling that he was merely describing what he saw, rather than prescribing specific action for a shared future.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read a lot of Marxist theory in earnest for years now, so I really enjoyed his lucid, readable recaps of some major ideas and thinkers, as well as the wholly interesting narrative of the original Luddites. Knowing his own background in academia, I would’ve liked one more chapter about any (?) Luddite efforts in higher Ed to disrupt the layers of LMS and other enterprise software foisted upon us—I’d also just love more of his own thoughts about higher Ed labor and organizing, period.

[Kateryna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book with a horribly misleading cover. I had no idea that it is a Marxist view on Luddism, so I was pleasantly surprised! The book is short, and my only complaint is that I wish there was more written about the 21st century. Otherwise - a brilliant analysis accessibly delivered to the reader. Go read it now if you still believe that Luddists are a thing of a past and mere technopessimists:)

[Adriane Hershey · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most thought-provoking books i’ve read this year. an insightful, and sometimes challenging, look at how the rise of technology has impacted our world, shaped our work, and been used as a tool of the ruling class to keep the public subservient.

[Babs Vohlidkova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can’t decide what’s denser: chapter 1 or me. The second half contextualizing Luddism in high-tech spaces, esp with all this AI business, and promoting decelerationist politics was v interesting and well-worth a read in today’s hellscape xx

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elegantly and precisely written history of workplace sabotage and other forms of intervention against automation. Occasionally funny, always fun to read.

[brisingr · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf halfway through; i think i just picked up this book at a wrong time maybe, but why did it have to be SO boring !!!

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It views technology not as neutral but as a site of struggle. Luddism rejects production for production’s sake: it is critical of “efficiency” as an end goal, as there are other values at stake in work.”

[John Mihelic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay today we're looking at Breaking Things at Work, the new book from Verso by Gavin Muller. It’s an interesting text because it's short and I was reading it and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The first part is just the history of Luddism and industrial push-back from the early eighteen-hundreds to current but also includes the office environment.

The thing is it has one of the absolute best last chapters of any social science book that I've read. Usually, these last chapters are some sort of call to action that really you can't do much about, the problem they were looking at in the text is stuck as it is unless you go about really changing the entire system.

I think where Mueller really excels is where he hits on his sense of autonomy. The whole point of the book is that it is not having autonomy where you have the freedom to work on your own terms is where the push-back begins.

Quick story: I worked at a pizza shop. I tried to make my work like art. By creating each pizza as a little piece of art it felt as if I had control over what I was doing. I didn’t get paid anywhere comparable to the amount of my productivity over most of my co-workers because I was good, and I was fast. But I was able to do the work on my own terms. Then my boss decided to put a scale in and really regiment just the amount of cheese we were adding. Which makes sense from a business perspective because you want to make sure all your products are consistent and to cut down on your food cost, so the people don’t add too much cheese. But that constraint really made everybody mad, especially the fact that at the same time they installed a bunch of cameras in the store and the far as I remember there were installed it like three cameras in the kitchen for everyone camera in the dining room and we were open late night that we have a lot of problems with. Our boss was less concerned about that then being able to exert control internally and I think what Mueller is thinking is something like this. The autonomy is what controls being able to do things on your own terms as you like them and not fully controlled.

What we have is a lack of Freedom where the employee is the tool instead of using technology as the tool itself. And that's where we get this larger unrest and a lack of satisfaction, needing meaning at work. The other thing that Mueller does well is that he doesn't claim to have a big answer. What we really need to create that autonomy is to have some sort of organization at the firm level or even at a higher level of the social political organization. I really liked the book in the end even though the first part I was a little unsure about what he was trying to do. It all came together well.

[Kurt Henke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t think this book accomplished its stated goal of turning me into a luddite. Even through Mueller’s intentionally obtuse reading of communist theory I still found myself agreeing with his detractors more often than not. The author not only declares war on technological advance within society, he decries a nuanced view of it, proposing that all technological progress is the progress of capital, not of the people. He does not offer an alternative coherent framework with which to judge the usefulness of technology to the working class. Instead, listing numerous related examples and expecting the reader to fill in the critical thinking for him.
The arguments within the book feel both disjointed and unsupported by our material reality. Anti-technology movements/events, both historical and modern, are ascribed political motivations without any evidence that the members or leaders of the movements held any such beliefs. Broader issues created by capitalist labor structures are wholly blamed on the related technology. While often bucking at the label of primitivist, the author displays a sort of mythologization of industrial era labor, ignoring the brutal social and economic conditions of that time period. Overall, I was not convinced of the conclusions being drawn or even the presuppositions of the arguments being made.
That being said, I did not find the book wholly useless. Machine sabotage, when focused, intentional, and in an organized manner, can be an effective means of direct action. The book does highlight some particularly pertinent examples of machine breaking in labor struggles that I enjoyed learning about. If there is one positive lesson I take away from Breaking Things at Work, it is that we should always be critical of how capital utilizes technology against us, and to be mindful of which technologies are truly are a step forward for humanity and not just for profit.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 started with quite a bang in the Verso Book Club. First, Andreas Malm's impassioned How to Blow Up a Pipeline and then this, Breaking Things at Work. A suspicious surveillance program might start having thoughts about the contents of these books and the motivations of their readers! However, just like how Malm's pamphlet is a philosophical plea for activism and not a direct call to violence, Mueller's pamphlet is a welcome revisitation of the legacy of technologically suspicious, grounded activism performed by the Luddites and those who have appreciated their name through history.

Mueller's interest is in critically responding to the kind of "command and control" technocratic governance forwarded by accelerationist Marxists ("luxury communism" etc etc) and it works - outside of a deadly dull chapter on Marxist thought (are these still really necessary to establish "serious" credentials?), this is compelling, passionate stuff, and when paired with other voices - such as, perhaps surprisingly, the science journalism of Elizabeth Kolbert, whose recent observations on climate change mitigation technology sound like Luddite sympathizing - it makes a great story. It is also striking to note that while Andreas Malm's hyper-presentist focus robs his analysis of the ability to see history plainly, Mueller's more considerate take on actual violence against technologies (in part) reveals that the kind of movements Malm desires have always existed in some form or other - but that job action depends on united interests and clear and compelling threats.

In any case, fascinating to read together and my thanks as ever to Verso for curating such a fascinating, brilliant reading experience.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last three months or so have seen the publication of a veritable bounty of Marxist studies on automation and technology - first Aaron Benanav’s Automation and the Future of Work, then Jason Smith’s Smart Machines and Service Work - both excellent - and now this concise book about machine-breaking and Luddism by Gavin Mueller. Mueller’s book differs from the other two in that it is perhaps less an economic history and more of a labor history, as informed by Thompson, Hobsbawm, and Linebaugh as Brenner or Wood. It’s an exceedingly well-written and convincing text, and very persuasive in tracing links between the Luddism of 19th century English mill workers and the forms of sabotage that the proletariat has continued to engage in over the centuries since.