Entangled in the Chemical Industry

Abstract This paper argues for addressing histories of scientific institutions and their entanglements with Euro-American imperialism, racial capitalism, and environmental injustice in secondary science education. Our argument is grounded in the history of a multinational chemical corporation that operates a chemical plant in a neighborhood where one author lives and the other teaches. This plant has sponsored the school’s athletic department and is also the greatest source of industrial pollution in the neighborhood. The history of the corporation suggests that critical historical contexts are important for engaging students with honest representations of scientific enterprise and meaningful opportunities at the intersection of scientific and civic reasoning. We illustrate how analysis of the plant inspired youth participatory science projects by describing how considerations about the plant were connected to chemistry curricula.