1 Introduction
1.1 The past and future of law and technology?
Between 1811 and 1816 in North of England owners of textile mills found
themselves facing a Luddite uprising. The rioters borrowed their name from
General Ned Ludd, who supposedly had broken stocking frames in anger in 1779
and was claimed to have led the riot from Sherwood forest. The frustrated textile
workers saw no alternative to violent protest against the rapid changes in
production mechanisms that had left them unable to provide for their families.
As the situation grew worse and societal stability came under threat, legislation
was harnessed to restrain the uprising by increasing the penalties for attacks
against the manufacturing houses and equipment. According to the UK’s
Frame-Breaking Act of 1812 (officially The Destruction of Stocking Frames,
etc.), all crimes against the machines were punishable by death:
‘If any person or persons shall, by Day or by Night, enter by Force into any
House, Shop or Place, with an Intent to cut or destroy any Framework knitted
Pieces, Stockings or Lace, or other Articles or Goods being in the Frame, or upon
any Machine or Engine thereto annexed, or therewith to be used or prepared for
that Purpose; … or shall willfully and maliciously, and without having the
Consent or Authority of the Owner, break and destroy any Machinery contained
in any Mill or Mills used or any way employed in preparing or spinning of Wool
or Cotton, or other Materials for the use of the Stocking or Lace Manufactory,
every Offender being thereof lawfully convicted shall be adjudged guilty of
Felony, and shall suffer Death, as in cases of Felony without Benefit of Clergy.’
What really happened in England during the first decades of the nineteenth
century to invoke the need for such drastic legislative measures? It was not simply
the introduction of new technology, although one can pinpoint important milestones on the road to the invention of the spinning jenny or the steam engine.
Instead, the social implications linked with technological innovations led to the
changes in manufacturing, which can be described as the automation of routine
manual labour. The interplay between society, law and technology gave rise to
tensions that burst into violence.
1.1 The past and future of law and technology?
Between 1811 and 1816 in North of England owners of textile mills found
themselves facing a Luddite uprising. The rioters borrowed their name from
General Ned Ludd, who supposedly had broken stocking frames in anger in 1779
and was claimed to have led the riot from Sherwood forest. The frustrated textile
workers saw no alternative to violent protest against the rapid changes in
production mechanisms that had left them unable to provide for their families.
As the situation grew worse and societal stability came under threat, legislation
was harnessed to restrain the uprising by increasing the penalties for attacks
against the manufacturing houses and equipment. According to the UK’s
Frame-Breaking Act of 1812 (officially The Destruction of Stocking Frames,
etc.), all crimes against the machines were punishable by death:
‘If any person or persons shall, by Day or by Night, enter by Force into any
House, Shop or Place, with an Intent to cut or destroy any Framework knitted
Pieces, Stockings or Lace, or other Articles or Goods being in the Frame, or upon
any Machine or Engine thereto annexed, or therewith to be used or prepared for
that Purpose; … or shall willfully and maliciously, and without having the
Consent or Authority of the Owner, break and destroy any Machinery contained
in any Mill or Mills used or any way employed in preparing or spinning of Wool
or Cotton, or other Materials for the use of the Stocking or Lace Manufactory,
every Offender being thereof lawfully convicted shall be adjudged guilty of
Felony, and shall suffer Death, as in cases of Felony without Benefit of Clergy.’
What really happened in England during the first decades of the nineteenth
century to invoke the need for such drastic legislative measures? It was not simply
the introduction of new technology, although one can pinpoint important milestones on the road to the invention of the spinning jenny or the steam engine.
Instead, the social implications linked with technological innovations led to the
changes in manufacturing, which can be described as the automation of routine
manual labour. The interplay between society, law and technology gave rise to
tensions that burst into violence.