The text addresses the impact of globalization within engineering, particularly on working practices and prospects for creativity. It suggests that accepted norms of economic activity create enclosures and thresholds within the profession, which-as engineers increase their awareness (reflexivity)-will shape the future of engineering, and the values which underpin it. It is aimed at practicing engineers and those in training and is an introduction to the social and political context currently setting new challenges for the profession.

John Reader is a writer and social theorist in the UK. He has degrees from the Universities of Oxford, Manchester and Wales, where he is also an Honorary Research Fellow. He has published a number of books and articles over the last 16 years. As well as working as a parish priest he serves as a board member on a not-for-profit housing organization, regularly visits a business based on scientific research in the global defence industry, and engages far and wide with the impacts of globalization on the lives of the people around him.