Re-visioning Ideological Assemblages Through De-punctualizing and Activist Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

It seems clear to many analysts that there are several existential and many ‘normalized’ threats to wellbeing of individuals, societies and environments—such as disruption from climate change, diseases from manufactured foods and species losses linked to habitat destruction—that have been associated with fields of science, mathematics and technology (and, likely, engineering). Culpability for such threats, while perhaps engaging much of humanity, seems most likely attributable to pro-capitalist individuals (e.g., financiers) and groups (e.g., corporations and transnational trade organizations)—which appear to have relatively successfully influenced most living and nonliving entities to form assemblages (dispositifs) that serve their self-interested ideologies. Given harms associated with such assemblages, it seems clear to many analysts that they need to be severely disrupted or, perhaps, replaced with alliances of entities that are based on ideological perspectives that may contribute to comprehensive wellbeing. Although pro-capitalist assemblages have been extremely resilient, it seems that current sociopolitical instability and, moreover, considerable disruption from the CoViD-19 pandemic may provide unprecedented opportunities for dramatic changes. In this article, after consideration of characteristics and extents of harms linked to fields of science, mathematics and technology/engineering, possibilities are described and critically defended for uses of a particular curriculum and pedagogical framework for helping students to imagine and, perhaps, realize new assemblages of entities that are held together by ideologies that they consider appropriate.