Designing for Social Justice: Community-Engaged Approaches in Technical and Professional Communication

Exploring the intersection of design research and community engagement, this book highlights the ways in which design and design theories can be used to address social justice issues and promote positive change in communities.

Contributors illuminate the theoretical, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions of design-driven methods in community-engaged projects, exploring their potential to address critical social justice issues such as ethnic and racial justice, gender equality, disability justice, cultural diversity, equity, and environmental justice. Chapters examine various aspects of community-engaged practices, including the use of design theories to fuel social justice work in community partnerships, ethical issues surrounding the use of multimodal resources and new media technologies, and pedagogies for promoting social change. Addressing the opportunities and challenges of design and design methods in community engagement, this collection offers suggestions for promoting social justice through technical and professional communication activities and pedagogies.

Investigating the design of community-engaged projects from a critical standpoint, this book will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of Technical and Professional Communication, Writing and Composition Studies, and Rhetoric. It will also be of interest to administrators, community partners, and professionals working in service-learning contexts.

Jialei Jiang is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Composition in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

Jason C. K. Tham is Associate Professor of Technical Communication and Rhetoric and Assistant Chair of the English Department at Texas Tech University, USA. His recent works include UX Writing (Routledge, 2023), Designing Technical and Professional Communication (Routledge, 2021), and Design Thinking in Technical Communication (Routledge, 2021).