Description
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 civilization? In the first exploration of this phenomenon, Mauro Lubrano traces the origins and evolution of anti-technology violence across the globe. He identifies three main groups fuelling such resistance: insurrectionary anarchists, eco-extremists, and eco-fascists. Exploring the justifications that underlie the opposition to technology and the strategies employed to ‘stop the machines’, he shows how anti-tech 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.
About the Author
Mauro Lubrano is Lecturer in International Relations \\u0026 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 \\u0026 Political Violence, Studies in Conflict \\u0026 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.
