Luddism refers to a movement that emerged in England in the early 19th century, led by artisans who protested against the growing use of machines in the productive process, especially threshers and looms, which they considered destroyed employment and deteriorated working conditions. The Luddite movement began in Nottingham, England, and spread to the North West and Yorkshire between 1811 and 1816. The term "Luddite" comes from the name of Ned Ludd, a young English worker who broke two mechanical weavers in 1779, decades before the Luddite movement. Over time, the term has been used to refer to those opposed to industrialization, automation, computerization, or new technologies in general.

Luddites objected primarily to the rising popularity of automated textile equipment, threatening the jobs and livelihoods of skilled workers as this technology allowed them to be replaced by cheaper and less skilled workers. The combination of seasonal variations in wage rates and violent short-term fluctuations springing from harvests and war produced periodic outbreaks of violence.

Nowadays, the term "Luddite" often is used to describe someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies. Neoluddism has emerged to describe opposition to many forms of technology, and it has been combined in recent years with environmentalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-globalization movements. Luddite philosophy asks its adherents to ask how technology will assist in human flourishing, and if the answer is that the technology does not lead to human flourishing, Luddism questions the purpose of the technology.