James Bridle's 'New Dark Age' Critiques Technological Complexity and Calls for Collective Action

James Bridle's book 'New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future' argues that modern systems—economic, political, and climatic—have grown too complex for human comprehension, leaving society vulnerable to exploitation and systemic failures. Published by Verso Books in Summer 2018, the work warns that reliance on opaque infrastructures like algorithm-driven markets and automated technologies undermines democracy and privacy. Bridle cites examples such as Amazon warehouses governed by inhuman computer logic and racial biases in digital cameras to illustrate how these systems reinforce inequality. He connects this technological opacity to social unrest and political upheaval, noting that voters facing automation and climate change impacts are susceptible to far-right simplifications. The book advocates for 'practical unknowing' and literacy over Luddism, urging readers to build coalitions and share knowledge to reclaim oppressive apparatuses. Bridle references Timothy Morton's concept of 'hyperobjects' and draws from personal anecdotes, like a software malfunction at a Glasgow hotel, to highlight widespread powerlessness. While critiquing the book's unifying theory as less convincing, the review acknowledges its call for informed integration with technology through new solidarities. Priced at £16.99 in hardcover, the polemic serves as a stark warning against abdicating control to invisible networks.