Real-World Case Studies for the Classroom
Use EngineerWorld Cooperative as a case study of how workers can break monopolies through cooperative ownership and open-source innovation. Free curriculum materials aligned with economics, engineering, and civics standards.
Why Teach EngineerWorld?
Students need to see that they have the power to change the world. EngineerWorld demonstrates that workers can design, build, and own the means of production. This isn't theory—it's a real cooperative breaking a real $4.2B monopoly with documented evidence from FTC lawsuits and farmer testimonials.
- •Real-world relevance: Students see how economics, engineering, and civics intersect in solving actual problems
- •Documented evidence: FTC lawsuit, farmer testimonials, and financial data provide credible sources
- •Empowerment narrative: Shows students they can create alternatives to extraction and monopoly
- •Cross-disciplinary: Connects economics, engineering ethics, democratic governance, and social impact
Curriculum Modules
Breaking a Monopoly Through Cooperative Ownership
- •Analyze how monopolies extract value from consumers and workers
- •Compare traditional corporate vs cooperative ownership models
- •Evaluate the role of open-source innovation in breaking monopolies
- •Design a cooperative business model for a real-world problem
Open-Source Innovation vs Corporate Control
- •Understand the difference between proprietary and open-source technology
- •Analyze the economic and social impacts of repair restrictions
- •Evaluate ethical responsibilities of engineers in product design
- •Create an open-source design solution to a community problem
Democratic Governance in Worker Cooperatives
- •Compare democratic governance models in different contexts
- •Analyze how worker cooperatives make collective decisions
- •Evaluate the benefits and challenges of democratic workplaces
- •Simulate a cooperative governance process
Case Studies
The $4.2B John Deere Monopoly
How repair restrictions extracted billions from farmers and what engineers did about it
- 1.What market conditions allowed John Deere to maintain a repair monopoly?
- 2.How did repair restrictions impact farmers economically and emotionally?
- 3.What role did the FTC lawsuit play in exposing monopolistic practices?
- 4.How can open-source design prevent future monopolies?
- •FTC lawsuit documents (January 2025)
- •Farmer testimonials (NBC News, The Guardian)
- •$4.2B/year extraction calculation (U.S. PIRG report)
- •Farmer suicide rates linked to financial stress
From Extraction to Healing: The EngineerWorld Model
How 247 engineers WILL design a cooperative alternative to corporate agriculture equipment (when they join)
- 1.What motivated engineers to leave high-paying corporate jobs?
- 2.How does cooperative ownership change incentive structures?
- 3.What technical innovations enabled the modular tractor system?
- 4.How can this model be applied to other industries?
- •Vision for cooperative ownership model
- •Planned modular design architecture
- •Democratic governance structure (to be implemented)
- •Recruitment strategy for 247 founding engineers
Downloadable Resources
These curriculum materials are licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). You're free to use, modify, and share them for educational purposes. We believe knowledge should be accessible to all.
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