Shifting Sensibilities? on Doing Hydraulic Engineering and Hydrology in the Anthropocene

Engineers are often depicted as lacking sensitivity. In a classic example, Martin Heidegger, in his essay The Question Concerning Technology (1953), illustrates this point by referencing a hydroelectric plant on the Rhine, which he argues was conceived through the technological mindset of hydraulic engineers. Heidegger uses this example to highlight the concept of Gestell, a framework that renders the river perpetually “available” as a source of energy, rather than allowing us to attune to the lives, colors, temperatures, and other sensory particularities of the river’s being. According to Heidegger, the hydraulic engineer epitomizes triumphant modern technology, viewing the environment as a resource to be exploited, rather than as something to preserve, admire, or share. Today, however, as we navigate life in the Anthropocene — a period in which the climate crisis has transformed water into a matter of politics, adaptation, and controversy — hydraulic engineers and hydrologists, who are experts in the physics and infrastructural management of water systems and rivers, are undergoing significant transformations. Changes in the phenomena they study have introduced new uncertainties, prompting them to rework their sensibilities. In this presentation, I draw on testimonial material from experts in these fields in Chile to illustrate how climate change has affected their understanding of both their practice and their relationship with socio-hydric environments. My overall observation is that, as these practitioners engage with this ‘sensitive topic,’ new (un)sensibilities are emerging and being contested within these techno-scientific communities. Attending to these struggles over sensibility is crucial in a context where one of the most common demands is for the ‘adaptation’ of water infrastructure to climate change. Pressured by the latent risks of floods affecting the survival of human and non-human communities, hydraulic engineers and hydrologists play important roles mediating the relationships between human and water worlds.