Fostering peace engineering and rethinking development: A Latin American view

Abstract

This paper explores how peace engineering initiatives relate to the critique of development in the Latin American context. Development is an essential condition for peace, and structural violence is closely associated with patterns of development. In engineering studies, the critique of development has increased attention, explaining the initiatives towards peace engineering engaged in social transformations. We discuss the evolution of the modern notion of development and argue why we should reject the mantra of neoliberalism. Next, we shift our look to the contributions of the Latin American critique of development, from the historical liberation movements to new concepts such as post-extractivism, solidarity economy, and political ecology. A decolonial view is proposed departing from the ‘epistemologies of the South’, followed by a review of how science, technology, and innovation relate to specific exclusion forms. Further, an empirical view on peace engineering initiatives in post-conflict Colombia and Brazil is presented, including three streams of how engineering initiatives relate to social change, from the social economy to grassroots movements. Finally, we suggest a few questions for further research in peace engineering and development.