Jérôme Denis is a sociologist, professor at the École des Mines de Paris, and director of the Center for Sociology of Innovation.
What do a boiler, a car, a road sign, 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, and a tractor have in common? Almost nothing, except that none of these things, large or small, precious or mundane, can last without some form of maintenance. Every object wears out, deteriorates, eventually breaks, or even disappears. But do we fully appreciate 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 very rarely brought to our attention.
This book is an invitation to shift our perspective by focusing on maintenance and those who perform it. Following the thread of different stories, its authors describe the subtleties of “caring for things” to highlight the ethical issues and political implications involved. Because it cultivates a sensitive awareness of fragility and invents, day after day, a material diplomacy that resists the frantic pace of planned obsolescence and overconsumption, maintenance outlines a world far removed 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.
2023 Book Awards of the French Academy of Architecture
