Teach like a Luddite

Abstract

In this article, Charles Logan, T. Philip Nichols, and Antero Garcia argue for resisting the uncritical adoption of “inevitable” automating technologies — such as AI — in schools. To theorize what forms this resistance might take, they turn to perhaps an unusual source: the Luddites. The 19th century textile workers were not anti-technology; they fought technologies used to de-professionalize and disempower them. Learning from the Luddites, they offer three approaches to a Luddite praxis in education: embracing strategic playfulness, developing localized tactics, and building networks of resistance. Technological change is a series of choices about power, work, and dignity — choices that can and should be contested.