Abstract
This chapter focuses on a missing dimension to the traditional engineering experience: care, defined here as an active compassion, empathy, and concern for the wellbeing of other living (and sometimes non-living) things. The chapter begins with an introduction to the ethics of care, a normative ethical theory that emphasizes responsibility, relationship and context over rules and consequences. It then gives an overview of the engineering profession that shows the extent to which care is manifest in engineering practice. Throughout the chapter, a five element framework for care ethics adopted from the literature is used as a guide to demonstrate how engineers can become more effective at caring, particularly through work performed in philanthropic areas such as engineering for community service, disaster recovery, and international development—endeavors referred to collectively as humanitarian engineering (H.E.). However, in spite of the obvious opportunities for care in H.E., the practice of ethical caring is wrought with pitfalls, which are discussed, followed by way to overcome them through a proposed mindset that enables engineers to become more willing and better able to contribute constructively to issues of social and ecological justice.
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- 1.
While there are a few other terms in the literature that are perhaps less patronizing of the care-receivers, such as “engineering to help” (Schneider et al. 2009), “global development engineering” (Riley 2008b), and “engineering with community” (Lucena et al. 2010), none have anywhere near the widespread recognition of the term “humanitarian engineering.” As evidence for this prevalence, I point to the following:
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a North America-based scholarly journal with H.E. in its subtitle, namely the International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering: Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/ijsle/index) and an Australia-based journal with the title Journal of Humanitarian Engineering (http://www.ewb.org.au/explore/knowledgehubs/education/journal)
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academic minor and certificate programs of H.E., such as the Humanitarian Engineering Program at Colorado School of Mines (http://humanitarian.mines.edu/), and the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program at Penn State University (http://www.sedtapp.psu.edu/humanitarian/about.php)
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a two part special issue of the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine entitled “Volunteerism and Humanitarian Engineering” (Vol. 28, No. 4 and Vol. 29, No. 1) and an IEEE conference titled Global Humanitarian Technology (http://www.ieeeghtc.org)
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the recognition of 2011 as the Year of Humanitarian Engineering by Engineers Australia (http://makeitso.org.au/yohe)
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various academic publications that employ the term, such as Mitcham and Munoz’s (2010) book, Passino’s (2009) journal article, and VanderSteen‘s (2008) Ph.D. dissertation
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- 2.
This sub-section is expanded and adapted from a conference paper written by the author (see Campbell, Yasuhara and Wilson 2012).
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Given the applicability of Slote’s version of the ethics of care to social justice and humanitarian endeavors, the reader might wonder why I have not adopted it instead of Tronto’s framework for the analyses presented in this chapter. I have two reasons for this, one of which is pragmatic and the other philosophical. Pragmatically speaking, I find that Tronto’s framework provides a clearer and better scaffolded conceptualization of care ethics that is closer, for better or worse, to the way engineers think. It thus provides a better, more developmentally appropriate introduction to care ethics than Slote’s theory and even helps us see where conventional engineering mindsets might steer us wrong in our caring endeavors. From a philosophical point of view, I am reluctant to accept the notion in Slote’s (and for that matter, Noddings’) theory that humans have a lower level of responsibility of ethical caring for distant or lesser-known others than for those in close proximity. While there may be some truth to such a notion from the perspective of resource limitations, to say that international humanitarian caring is less important than caring for those locally in need seems to encourage an attitude of selfishness and tending one’s own garden (Tronto 1993, p. 171) that would easily turn a blind eye to the impacts of one’s actions on distant others. Such a position seems particularly problematic for non-human life and the ecosystem, much of which will always be distant and difficult to know in the way one can get to know people (at least with distant people one could move to a new region and make new friends, neighbors, and coworkers). Does this mean caring for the environment should always play second fiddle to caring for one’s family or nation (e.g., through providing material or economic comforts)? How would matters of environmental pollution and sustainability be addressed? Slote admits that even the applicability of empathic caring to animals is complicated and daunting (Slote 2007, p. 19).
- 5.
Moriarty (2008) articulates this well as “[t]he problem with an economy in the grip of the capitalist “take” on reality is that everything becomes commodified and human relationships become purely functional and instrumental. An attitude of respect for persons becomes more and more difficult to maintain.” (p. 58) and “…capitalism implicates engineering almost totally in its cycle of commodification, production and consumption” (p. 91). My gratitude to the anonymous reviewer who suggested the addition of this point.
- 6.
From a 1997 archived version of the IEEE website, About IEEE, “The IEEE Is … Achieving Goals”. Retrieved 13 January, 2012 from http://web.archive.org/web/19970225053543/http://www.ieee.org/i3e_blb.html
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IEEE Vision & Mission. Retrieved 13 January, 2012 from http://www.ieee.org/about/vision_mission.html
- 8.
See “Proposal to Establish EWB-Global”, accessed 2 March, 2013 at http://www.ewb-international.org/pdf/EWB-I%20Proposal%2004%20June%20-%20Final.pdf and the CV of EWB-USA Founder, Bernard Amadei, accessed 13 January, 2012 at http://www.ewb-usa.org/theme/library/about-ewb-usa/ewb-usa-board-Bernard-Amadei.pdf
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Retrieved 30 March, 2012 from https://www.engineeringforchange.org
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Retrieved 13 January, 2012 from http://www.ewb-usa.org/about-ewb-usa/annual-reports
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Neoliberalism, defined as a “fanatical form of capitalism that places ultimate faith in private property, free markets, and free trade, privatizing industries and lifting any government protections on trade, the environment, labor, and social welfare” (Riley 2008a, p. 7), is criticized as being responsible for increasing disparities in wealth and opportunity, exploiting labor and the ecosystem (Harvey 2005), and along with the prevailing culture of positivism in society, is even complicit in stripping education of its true value and meaning (Giroux 2011).
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See EWB-Canada’s Admitting Failure website (http://www.admittingfailure.com) as well as the information & communication technology for development (ICT4D) community’s FailFaire conferences (http://failfaire.org).
- 13.
Tronto acknowledges paternalism as problematic (p. 145), but does not seem to offer any solutions or practical work-arounds. However, she does point out that at least through care ethics one can recognize and identify such issues and this is surely preferable to sole reliance on a moral theory that can not.
- 14.
Note that Bowen (2009) also employed a variation of the I-Thou concept (though based on Martin Buber’s original conception), which, while useful for discussing issues of proximity, does little to help with the problem of paternalism.
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Campbell, R.C. (2013). How Can Engineering Students Learn to Care? How Can Engineering Faculty Teach to Care?. In: Lucena, J. (eds) Engineering Education for Social Justice. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6350-0_6
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