What do a boiler, a car, a signpost, a smartphone, a cathedral, a work of art, a satellite, a washing machine, a bridge, a clock, a computer server, the body of an illustrious statesman, a tractor have in common? Almost nothing, except that none of these things, small or large, precious or commonplace, lasts without some form of maintenance. Every object wears out, degrades, eventually breaks, or even disappears. However, do we really measure the importance of maintenance? As a counterpoint to the contemporary obsession with innovation, and less spectacular than the singular act of repair, this delicate art of making things last is rarely brought to our attention.
This book is an invitation to decentralize our gaze by putting maintenance and those who perform it in the foreground. By following the thread of different stories, its authors describe the subtleties of "caring for things" in order to underline its ethical stakes and its political significance. Because a sensitive attention to fragility is cultivated and a material diplomacy is invented on a daily basis that resists the frantic rhythm of programmed obsolescence and overconsumption, maintenance draws the contours of a world away from the pretensions of human omnipotence and technological autonomy. A world where forms of attachment to things are much less trivial than one might imagine.

To learn more about the book to be published on October 13, 2022

Jérôme Denis is a professor of sociology at Mines Paris-PSL, attached to the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation of Mines Paris-PSL. He wrote with David Pontille a Petite sociologie de la signalétique (Presses des Mines, 2010) and participated in the creation of the blog scriptopolis.fr, which became a book published in 2019 by Non Standard Editions.

David Pontille is a research director at the CNRS, and is attached to the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation at Mines Paris-PSL. He wrote with Jérôme Denis a Petite sociologie de la signalétique (Presses des Mines, 2010) and participated in the creation of the blog scriptopolis.fr, which became a book published in 2019 by Non Standard.

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