In this text, we focus on technical communication’s relationship to social justice in part by framing technical communication as action and community-oriented. This section focuses again on the importance of framing technical communication as moving an audience towards action. As discussed in Section 1, technical communicators work not only to inform but often to provide information that enables, equips, or persuades their audience to do something. Audiences often seek out technical communication because they want to do something and need information. The texts created by technical communicators are often linked to a specific action. For example, you would seek out instructions on how to build a chair (text) because you want to build the chair (action). Or, you would search for information on where and how you can access the Covid vaccine (text) because you are planning to take the Covid vaccine (action). A slightly more complicated example would be reading through your apartment lease (text) because you want to understand the terms of that agreement and how they impact your housing situation (action), or, you might want to understand whether you are able to break your lease early (action) after the landlord has ignored your complaints about water leakage.

Social justice, like technical communication, is concerned with action: social justice means challenging or creating systems and structures so that folks have access to things like education, wealth, resources, decision-making power, and other things that contribute to equity and inclusion. As we mention in Section 2.1, social justice involves taking issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and then creating actionable steps towards social change. Because social justice is related to action, it often focuses on groups or individuals who do not already have access to these things, or who are currently and historically marginalized.

Language and values

It may be easier to understand how some texts (a contract like the apartment lease describe above, for example, or public health documents like the information on how and where to obtain a Covid vaccine) are related to social justice than other texts (such as manuals or instructions). It’s important to understand that all acts of communication must be concerned with diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice because communication is never neutral. In other words, even seemingly benign or straightforward documents are created by people (with their own biases and world views) for people (with potentially conflicting biases or world views). Just as we take a rhetorical approach to technical communication, and understand that communication is always responding to a specific context and purpose for a specific audience, we must recognize that all communication–including technical communication–is never simply “reporting” or “transcribing.” Every act of communication is, in fact, shaping and creating, rather than responding to, the subject matter.

As we discuss throughout this text, virtually all aspects of technical communication are relevant to matters of social justice. Even when a genre or writing situation is not directly focused on social justice, that text impacts a given community and, very often, explicitly or implicitly asks a community to take some sort of action. Because technical communication is so audience focused, technical communicators should always be mindful of how their work impacts communities and how it either participates in or against social change. Language always participates in shaping and endorsing values, and so it’s important for technical communicators to recognize how the organizations they work for and the texts they construct or revise are value-laden.

Language, ethics, and community

This text frames all language, and technical communication in particular, as rhetorical. Part of what it means to understand language as rhetorical is to recognize:

1. Language is context-dependent
2. Language reflects and reinforces community values

Technical communicators, as they respond to a particular rhetorical situation, need to be aware of the values held by their target audience and understand how they language they use reflects and is reflected in these values. In this way, technical communicators respond to values that already exist. For example, if your goal as a technical communicator is to encourage a community to seek specific medical care, then you must understand that community’s values and how to appeal to or work within those values. Does that audience value community? Do they value individualism? Do they value children or elderly members in a particular way? Do they value Western medicine or knowledge generated through research? Do they value personal experience and shared narratives? Understanding an audience’s values is an important part of rhetorical communication. In this way, too, the language that a technical communicator chooses (and by language we include the mode of delivery, use of images, etc.) is context-dependent and is tied up in values.

Just as technical communicators must understand and respond to the values of their audience, they should recognize the ways in which they are perpetuating values through the texts that they create. Think back to Section 1.5 (or take a moment to read that section if you have not done so) and consider how values are passed down even through research methods. Technical communicators are not only responding to a rhetorical situation or to an audience, but they are also responsible for recognizing how their communication methods construct community values and, sometimes, perpetuate problematic systems of oppression. Technical communicators should now only respond to the values and needs of their audience, but should also work to be ethical in how they approach communication.

Social justice, technical communication, community, and action intersect is around ethical action. Consider, for example, ethics and compliance in the workplace, and read this overview from the University of Minnesota office of vice president for research, where you’ll find more resources and information about ethics and compliance across various areas of research. When working with or within an organization, and whenever you work with human subjects, ethics is a key component of research and communication. Another great resource comes from the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science. Technical communicators often work closely with scientists and engineers, and it is important to understand ethical research and practice in these fields. Finally, take a look at the Ethics Compliance Initiative’s website for information and resources on ethics and compliance in the workplace.

Technical communicators often work with communities to make difficult, scientific, or medical information more readily available. They often serve as a bridge between highly specialized researchers and the general population. Consider, for example, the current public health crisis of the COVID 19 global pandemic. Consider how many stakeholders are involved in ongoing pandemic research, and how important it is for different audiences to have clear, accessible, and accurate information. Even as they conduct their own research, organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) have industry-wide and internal codes of ethics that they follow. As one example, take a look at the WHO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Research. What do you notice about how ethics, community, and action intersect?

In many areas, such as healthcare, the importance of equitable access to clear and accurate information is crucial. Nurses, doctors, hospital staff, and patients must be able to communicate with each other so that individuals can make choices that impact their wellbeing. From Dr. Erin Blackwell, pediatric nurse practitioner working in Minneapolis, social justice means:

Communicating medical information in a manner that empowers patients and families.  Directing patients and family members in healthcare actions can sometimes be seen as an imbalance of power, especially if the provider is white and the patient is of another culture.  When we create the space for shared decision making, the patient and provider are better equipped for receiving valuable information from each other.   When we look at vaccine hesitancy in the Black community, there are multiple given explanations.  One reason for refusal is the desire for parents to take control of their child’s health from the medical system- which is historically white.  Empowering parents to make the choice to vaccinate instead of the choice not to vaccinate changes the rhetoric.

It is also the responsibility of the provider to provide accessible information to educate patients and families without an assumption of power.  This creates an opportunity for patients to make educated decisions based on facts and less guided by information acquired from invalid sources.  For example, if a white doctor gives treatment direction to a non-white patient without providing education on the disease or treatment, the patient could easily opt to ignore this advice and follow that of a trusted family member of the same culture.  Additionally, this is a reminder that communication goes both ways.  Taking the time to ask a patient about their cultural understanding of a diagnosis or hesitance of treatment allows for a shared plan of action that has better health outcomes.

–Erin Blackwell, DNP, APRN, C-PNP, Children’s Minnesota Hospital, Twin Cities

Whenever there is an imbalance of power–between the folks who have access to information and folks who need to access that information for their own health and safety–communication must be open and shared. Technical communicators can work with doctors, nurses, and healthcare experts to create accessible information that empowers patients to make informed choices about their care.

One important concept that you’ve likely heard before is the concept of an ethical dilemma. For something to be an ethical dilemma, there must not be one clear, correct choice. A situation presents a dilemma because each available choice presents some negative outcome or drawback. For example, if a technical communicator recognizes that they are asked to create a text that works against equity or access (by withholding information or intentionally confusing data to mislead readers), the “ethical” choice or the choice most aligned with social justice may be for the technical communicator to address their concerns with their team or with leaders at the organization. In the real world, this choice presents a variety of drawbacks. What if the organization leaders or team members disagree with these concerns? What if the technical communicator loses their job? There may still be one choice that most aligns with what you would consider ethical, but that does not always make the choice easy. How could the technical communicator work to change the culture or values of an organization? Is that work always possible?

Ethical dilemmas might present a choice with an even less clear solution, in the sense that each choice still results in an outcome that goes against values. Technical communicators may also run into situations where their own values or code of ethics are challenged. Consider the possibility that new information, or learning the values and goals of a different community that don’t align with your own, can cause you to revise your own world view or revisit some of your own values. It is also possible to work towards diversity, equity, and inclusion even when you are delivering information that somehow conflicts with your own choices.

As mentioned in Section 1.5, while values and world views and experiences are subjective, and while we can never completely escape individual bias, this does not mean that all opinions are equally valid. In fact, technical communicators must still work towards objectivity and towards articulating information that is clear, accessible, credible, and accurate. Knowing that new information can change what we previously believed does not mean that “all beliefs are accurate” nor does it mean that “anything goes.” Again, technical communicators work with subject matter experts and with research precisely so that they can work with the most currently accurate information. At the same time, technical communicators know that language is subjective and laded with values, and that they must adapt as new information becomes available. Working closely with communities and forming coalitions is one way to work towards this type of social justice through technical communication.