Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T21:22:45.681Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Machines and the Order of the Harbour: The Debate About the Introduction of Grain Unloaders in Rotterdam, 1905–1907

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2001

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In 1905, dockworkers in Rotterdam harbour organized a great strike against the introduction of machines for the transhipment of grain. The initial success of this strike was a profound shock to the leaders of political parties and national labour organizations, who, in spite of many differences of opinion, shared a positive attitude towards mechanization and regarded strikes against machinery as reactionary. The conflict in Rotterdam provoked a national debate about the implications of mechanization, which clearly exposed the strains and contradictions in this “dominant ideology of technology”. The article shows how several local labour leaders questioned the legitimacy of this ideology and why they failed in the end to persuade their superiors.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis