Updated: Sep 29
C/O Futures Book Review
Pamela Ligouri Bunker
16 September 2026
Mauro Lubrano, Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2025. Softcover; 190 pages. ISBN 978-1509555741.
Understanding Anti-Technology Extremism
Released in 2025, Stop the Machines by Mauro Lubrano is a fascinating look at an understudied area of extremism in which actors emphasize the negative effects of technological advancement, in some cases culminating in violent acts. Lubrano, who earned his doctorate from the University of St. Andrews in political violence and terrorism, is now a lecturer in International Relations & Politics at the University of Bath. He encountered the present-day phenomenon of anti-technology extremism in serendipitous fashion as a graduate student when, on a whim, he attended a 2019 gathering in Berlin on the “Fall of AI: A Call to Fight.” There he was introduced to the spectrum of what individuals believed should be done to counter that particular technological threat, including violence against those even tangentially promoting AI. Intrigued, his subsequent research found a breadth of historical and present-day anti-technology sentiment, some of which advocated violent means to those ends. Thus, while Lubrano’s book is particularly prescient given the current alarm bells being set off by the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it also offers insights across a wider swath of technological arenas (e.g. water resources or the electric power grid) potentially threatened by violent extremists.
The 190-page work is an easy read and consists of an introduction, five chapters, and a conclusion, along with chapter notes, a selected bibliography, and a useful index. The Introduction outlines the author’s journey in researching and understanding the phenomenon of anti-technology extremism. He then outlines what constitutes ‘extremism.’ Going beyond what might be considered ‘radicalism,’ extremist groups are often Manichean in nature and glorify violent means to their ends, with victims chosen not for who they are but for what they represent. Anti-technology extremism crosses a number of ideological currents— often resulting in ‘strange bedfellows’ on particular issues—and he finds it can be fruitfully examined within three distinct milieus: insurrectionary anarchism, eco-extremism, and eco-fascism.
Long Live King Ludd!
The first chapter, Long Live King Ludd!, seeks to counter any comparison of these latter-day groups to the original Luddites and briefly outlines the historical evolution of anti-technology trends and the related activist individuals and organizations which rose and fell over time. He describes how the 1811 Luddite movement, led by a mythical ‘Ned Ludd,’ involved destruction of a new technology—knitting frames—but the movement was not against technology per se. Rather, he reiterates Eric Hobswan’s description of it as ‘collective bargaining by riot,’ a means of trade unionism to protect skilled labor (p. 15). He acknowledges, however, that anti-technology sentiment has been part and parcel of the four Industrial Revolutions which had dramatic repercussions on all aspects of labor as well as social life. Quoting Gilbert Ramsey, he emphasizes the way in which a leap in technology both “…changes what we want, and how we understand our very existence (p. 10).” Recognizing the obvious benefits technology can provide, Lubrano then unpacks the dark side to technological progress; one which not only negatively impacts individual livelihoods, but also reduces civil liberties, exacerbates social disparities, and allows us to destroy each other with an ease previously unknown. It is these effects to which subsequent waves of anti-technology movements have responded. Particular mention in this chapter is given to Ted Kaczynski, aka ‘the Unabomber,” whose terrorist acts from 1975 to 1995 along with his anti-technology manifesto has served to influence a wide range of anti-technology extremists to the present day.
Smash the Prison Society: Insurrectionary Anarchism
Chapter Two, Smash the Prison Society: Insurrectionary Anarchism, looks at the first of the three primary milieus in which anti-technology extremists are found. The insurrectionary form of anarchism is herein described, following Francesco. Marone’s conceptualization as “an extremist tendency within the anarchist movement which emphasizes the practice of revolutionary ‘insurrection’ through illegal and violent actions (p. 40).” As anarchism has in the past embraced technology (e.g. dynamite) in its drive to take direct action (‘propaganda of the deed’) against authoritative governance, this milieu is somewhat counterintuitive to the reader at first. Lubrano explains that the issue of technology has become predominant due to its increasingly perceived role as central to the capitalist socioeconomic system, with particular emphasis on computers and IT (and assumedly more so AI) for control of information and surveillance. A secondary concern is the way in which it divorces humans from existing in the natural world and the harm it does to the environment. This group continues to be distinguished by the way it continues to be willing to use technology to destroy technology or ‘fight fire with fire.’ While many acts of destruction and sabotage are documented—such as the cited attack on an electricity pylon halting Tesla production in Germany in 2024—the author contends that such attacks are far less likely to target humans and rarely result in casualties.
Nature Fights Back: Eco-Extremists
Chapter Three, Nature Fights Back: Eco-Extremists, traces the roots of eco-extremism to the dawn of radical environmentalism in the 1950s and the concept of ‘deep ecology’ which gained traction in the early 1970s. These philosophical perspectives would foment the ideas of ecotage and later ‘monkeywrenching,’ whereby activists would sabotage the means for environmental disruption such as spiking trees to hinder logging or damaging construction machinery. Primarily aimed at nonhuman targets, Lubrano sees labelling this activity ‘ecoterror’ to be misguided. Still, he shows that more recently the violence has gone beyond rudimentary acts of sabotage to be directly aimed at individuals complicit in environmental damage—such as the IED sent to the CEO of Chile’s largest mining company which injured the CEO and his daughter in 2017. Following Kacyzinski’s tenets, extremist groups are said to have coalesced into two branches: the Wildists and the Eco-extremists. The latter however are said to have developed a deepening nihilism and practice a more indiscriminate violence. He warns that, although they have had less activity of late, they should not be dismissed.
Anti-Tech to Accelerate: Eco-Fascism
Chapter Four, Anti-Tech to Accelerate: Eco-Fascism, covers the last of Lubrano’s three milieus, an ideological current within the far-right. Eco-Fascism has existed as an undercurrent of the far-right since the mid-1800s but particularly post-WWII. Spurred on by such developments as Ruby Ridge and Waco, he explains that it gained traction along with the broader movement with the advent of online anonymous message boards. Accelerationist in nature, the anti-technology current is said to have taken hold most recently as it relates to overpopulation and immigration and has been cited by a number of active shooters—including Brenton Tarrant and Patrick Crusius—in their manifestos. Alarmingly, posts by members of eco-fascist groups highlight the ‘soft target’ nature of critical infrastructure. Lubrano cites these narratives as evidence of a potential evolution to a ‘full-fledged anti-technology assault.”
The Fight to End Civilization
The fifth chapter, The Fight to End Civilization, serves to draw together insights from the above to ascertain how the fight to eradicate technology might develop into widespread destruction. The biggest characteristic he cites is the ability of these groups to embrace flexibility. Synergy has developed from the cross-cutting nature of the movement against technology drawing strength throughout a number of ideological currents. Picking and choosing from amongst Kaczynski’s tenets, even as Kaczynski himself decries some of their narratives, it has become a movement of diverse individuals and groups with a common goal to ‘stop the machines.’ He cautions that the shared commitment to purpose does not equal a shared identity or any kind of directed action as such. Rather it feeds off conspiracy theories and the shared idea of technology as an existential threat. Lubrano portends—and indeed it seems to be his central argument—that the anticipation of an impending apocalyptic shift to a dystopian world can act as a significant catalyst for violence amongst these groups.
Conclusion
Finally, the Conclusion to the work is helpful in drawing together from the previous chapters who may be most a threat and in what arenas—particularly useful to security practitioners tasked with protecting our critical infrastructure. Overall, the book is unique in its attempt to address the broad range of actors from varying ideological backgrounds embracing anti-technology extremism and is a recommended read for those with either an academic or professional interest in the topic. He ends with the realistic but unsatisfying recognition that—as with many who use violence to promote their cause—the fears of anti-technology extremists are understandable and may even be valid, but their means are not. Addressing the root causes of terrorism is indeed an important aspect of countering the problem. Unfortunately, his consequent promotion of carefully fettered technological advances for the future and indeed a ‘paradigm shift’ in our relationship with technology—while certainly laudable—does come across as naïve despite his protestations to the contrary. The Fifth Industrial Revolution he sees on the horizon is already here—part and parcel of the post-modern epochal shift we are experiencing. As we are seeing with the latest whistleblowing on the destructive potential of the unfettered advancement of AI, trying to regulate and restrict technological breakthroughs falls on deaf ears when it becomes intertwined with great power competition and the struggle of hegemonic powers to hang on to their strategic advantage. In all fairness, given that this book was written over a year ago, it would be interesting to hear what Lubrano’s thoughts are in the face of these new developments.
Additional Reading
The Technological Society
Jacques Ellul (John Wilkinson, Trans.)
New York: Vintage Books, 1964.
Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech
Brian Merchant
New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2023.
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism
Yanis Varoufakis
Brooklyn, NY: 2024.
Download the Full C/O Futures Book Review
Read the complete six-page C/O Futures review of Mauro Lubrano’s Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism.
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