The Great Books Reading Group will take on Paul Kingsnorth’s book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity starting on the first Thursday of February, the 5th, 7-8:30 p.m. US Central Time, on our Patreon platform at the Trainee ($1) level or above, and we invite you to join us! Laurie Johnson and Kent Shultz will take turns leading the discussion. Reading is encouraged, but not required.
Against the Machine is a collection of essays by Kingsnorth that form a spiritual critique of modernity. Its critical focus is on technological blinders, the idea of inevitable “progress,” environmental degradation, our political delusions, and the spiritual costs of living inside “the Machine.” The book should yield a great conversation, especially for those who resonated with earlier thinkers Laurie has discussed, like Jacques Ellul, author of The Technological Society.
Kingsnorth’s viewpoint indicates that the modern environmental movement has been captured by technocratic and managerial thinking. Too often, political solutions framed entirely within the ideals of growth, efficiency, and control, and such solutions are incompatible with seriously addressing the ecological crises of our day. He argues that our deeper problem is metaphysical and spiritual, not economic or scientific.
Kingsnorth’s suspicion of large-scale systems, managerial elites, and “solutions” that preserve the logic of domination resonates with Peter Maurin’s critiques of industrial capitalism and bureaucratic social reform, and his calls for subsidiarity and direct mutual aid. Kingsnorth’s emphasis on smallness, limits, and fidelity to reality aligns with Maurin’s call for a society built on personal responsibility, localism, and the works of mercy rather than impersonal rationalistic systems.
Against the Machine fits the Maurin Academy’s commitment to primary texts, civilizational critiques and spiritually serious inquiry. The group will continue on this book for 4-5 monthly sessions and newcomers can join us throughout. Inquiries? Email us at maurinacademy@gmail.com.