 Undergrad: Mechanical

Engineering ’08 (City

University of New York)
 Masters: Mechanical
Engineering ’10 (Queen’s
University)
 PhD: Sociology 20??
(Somewhere Warm)
 Veteran of Engineers Without
Borders USA (Honduras)
 Veteran of Earth Institute and
UNDP (Uganda)
 Part I: Importance of Engineering in Social
Justice

 Part II: Identifying Our Mindsets

 Part III: Challenging Our Mindsets for Social

Justice
“Social Justice Work” is work that we do in
the interest of securing human rights, an
equitable distribution of resources, a
healthy planet… and a space for the human
spirit to
thrive.”
—Innosanto Nagara
– Community health and environmental justice
– Economic justice
– Education (Tuition Fees)
– Housing/gentrification (Community Housing)
– Immigrant rights (Systemic Discrimination)
– Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and two spirit
– Police monitoring/community protection
– Prison crisis
– Reparations
– Women and gender
– Worker’s rights
– Youth
 TECHNOLOGY SHAPES SOCIETY
FOR GOOD AND BAD
SOCIETY SHAPES TECHNOLOGY
FOR GOOD AND BAD

Marginalize: exclusion of certain individuals or

groups from meaningful participation in society.
Causes: lack of economic resources, knowledge,
political rights and capacity, recognition
and power
 Biosphere

Ecosystem C

Ecosystem A

Ecosystem B
 Ecosys
Society Artifact A A
Ecosystem
 WTF
Artifact A

act A
?!
 Ethnic strife in Punjab
region
 Hazardous chemicals
 Made storing seeds
impossible
 Favored farmers and
industrialists with capital
 Discouraged storage of grain
 Discouraged storage of food and grain
 Favored urban elite + colonial
 Allowed for those who can afford it to get
masters
access
 Led to widespread famine
 Led to famine
 Devastated farming
 Directly linked to the death of millions across
communities
India and Africathat had lasted
for 1000’s of years
Have you or your friends ever gotten in a fight
resulting from a misunderstanding in a text
message/ email/online social utility?
Ursula Franklin: “Even the introduction of a
dishwasher into a family’s life changes their
communication and time patterns, their
expectations and the ways in which the
family works together.” (p102)
 Queen’s University, 2009

5/03/2010 Public stewards or hired guns?: An inquiry into engineering education 25

 Queen’s contributed to: Awareness of
political and social issues

Queen’s University, 2009

5/03/2010 Public stewards or hired guns?: An inquiry into engineering education 26

 Queen’s contributed to: Awareness of the
rights and responsibilities of citizenship

Queen’s University, 2009

5/03/2010 Public stewards or hired guns?: An inquiry into engineering education 27

 Queen’s contributed to: Appreciation of other
races, cultures and religions

5/03/2010 Public stewards or hired guns?: An inquiry into engineering education 28

Here Comes
Democracy!
Finally!!!
A positivist mindset often relates to two other
perspectives that are commonly held in
engineering: reductionism and technological
determinism.

Reductionism is the notion that phenomena

(or problems) can be broken down into
smaller components for analysis and that
analysis of the components can fully explain
the system as a whole.
 Technological determinism holds that
technology develops on its own in a self-
propelling fashion (i.e., without regard to
social forces) and that its innovations, in
turn, impact society and drive political,
cultural, and economic developments.
Write 3-5 page single spaced essay on how
you would challenge one or more
engineering mindset. You will be graded on
pertinent research, insightfulness, and
critical thinking. You should apply your
challenging methodology on a previous
engineering assignment (preferably from
this class).
 If we got this far without anyone asking
questions, I was very authoritarian.
 If nobody has questions now, I probably
bored you to death.
 In case you don’t have questions and if we
have time, I have a nice music clip for
Immortal Technique (up next).