Title: Maintenance and Philosophy of Technology
Chairs: Mark Thomas Young and Sanna Lehtinen
Goal:To initiate a discourse on maintenance in philosophy of technology
Format: Seminar series
Period: April 2022 –April 2024
Contact: mark@markthomasyoung.net
Description
The practice of maintenance and repair has traditionally formed a neglected topic in scholarship on technology. Over the past two decades however, a growing body of literature has emerged which aims to address this neglect from an eclectic range of disciplinary perspectives, including history, geography, media studies and anthropology. By examining practices that have long occupied the periphery of scholarly thinking about technology, this literature has yielded a range of insights and demonstrated how studying maintenance enables new ways of thinking about technology. Yet despite the potential this area of research holds for enriching philosophical discussions of technology, maintenance and repair continue to remain neglected themes in philosophy.
The overall goal of this special interest group will be to initiate a discourse on maintenance in philosophy of technology by establishing a forum wherein researchers from philosophy and other disciplines can meet to reflect on the philosophical significance of this important yet neglected topic. The group aims to achieve this goal by hosting a monthly online seminar series in which philosophers currently working on this topic can present their research in order to gain valuable feedback and share ideas and approaches. The seminar series will also feature invited presentations on this topic from researchers working in disciplines such as STS, Geography and History of Technology in order not only to provide members with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with current trends in the field of maintenance and repair studies, but also to develop dialogue between philosophers of technology and scholars of maintenance and repair studies in other disciplines. The schedule consists of10 monthly meetings each year (excluding the months of June and July for summer break). The group will coordinated by a mailing list which, in addition to publishing the schedule for presentations, allows members to share research tips or suggest opportunities for collaboration.
Confirmed speakers for 2022 include:
• Taylor Stone (University of Bonn)
• Simon Penny (University of California Irvine)
• Eugenia Stamboliev (University of Vienna)
• Sanna Lehtinen(University of Helsinki)
• Cristina Bernabeau
• Jesús Vega Encabo (Autonomous University of Madrid)
In order to join the group please send an email to: mark@markthomasyoung.net
Published : March 10, 2022