Introduction to Social Justice in Technical Writing

Introduction of Social Justice

Technical writers have a unique ability to affect change in numerous ways in their work. Being apart of such a broad field, writers can make changes that not only help themselves, but also can make a difference in helping social justice and change happen. Social Justice in technical communication is a unique topic as we are all affected by and perpetuate structures and practices that can sometimes be oppressive. Social justice in technical communication is a relatively new subject and has only started to be talked about and looked into further. This is related also to how technical communicators now have an increased look into localizing their content for communities and making sure writing is accessible to all. As Jones and Moore (2016) have looked into, the focus on innovation and efficiency has led to ableism in some cases. Ableism along with lack of diversity and inclusion in the actual writing process can also lead to these voices not being heard when their dialogue is needed most. These are just some examples of problems that research into social justice for technical writing is bringing attention to and hoping to solve.