The 'lessons' of Luddism

Hostility towards machinery was more widespread in the early Industrial Rev olution than is customarily supposed and machine-breakers themselves were f ar from the mindless opponents of change they are often portrayed as being. Luddism marked not merely a turning point in the take-up of machinery but also a significant moment in the wider debate between conflicting political economies. It also crystallized a watershed in the attitudes of the State towards industrial protest and industrial regulation.