Engineering Dissent: Moving Political Engagement for Social Justice from the Vanguard into the Mainstream of the Engineering Profession

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Engineers design projects that improve social equity (by, for example, bringing clean water to disadvantaged communities) while simultaneously shaping infrastructure that causes injustice (through, for example, dams that displace entire populations). Throughout the history of the modern engineering profession, small groups of engineers have fought for social justice issues. These engineers took on the roles of activist, reformer, or advocate as they struggled to steer the direction of their profession. In contrast to their peers - the majority of the leaders and members of the profession - these champions of social justice causes were "dissenters". They challenged the status quo of engineering practice. Today, more engineering students and young professionals enter the field with a concern for social justice. Yet many graduate into the ranks of a profession that is not as politically engaged as they hoped. This project is motivated by the desire of a growing number of engineers to see their profession more deeply engaged in social justice work. The investigators aim to strengthen the role of social justice in engineering by, (a) mapping the evolution of social justice in the culture of the profession, and then (b) sharing the findings (of effective channels of advocacy) with engineering student groups and professional member societies. The objective of this research is to study political engagement around social justice issues by a vanguard of engineers and to investigate how their dissent - be it expressed as activism, advocacy, protest, or reform - shapes the culture of their profession. The project engages theories of professions and social movements along with organizational theory to investigate (a) the mechanisms through which the engineering profession institutionalizes (or marginalizes) political engagement around social justice issues; and (b) ways the discourse of dissent are mobilized in bringing political consciousness around social justice issues to the engineering profession. These questions will be addressed using a holistic methodology for studying professional culture that comprises: quantitative and qualitative analysis of vanguard and mainstream discourses around social justice work, by analyzing informal and formal texts, in traditional and social media; in-depth, ethnographic observations of professional events where the socialization of engineers makes visible the role of practices and discourses of dissent in professional culture formation; and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with engineering dissenters - whether they occupy roles of activist, reformer, vanguard, or other positions of political protest. The results of this research and the dissemination of its findings will make visible the myriad forms of engineering dissent with the aim of bringing social justice into the mainstream of the profession.