Engaging with and reflecting on the materiality of digital media technologies: Repair and fair production

Abstract

How do people think about and engage with the materiality of digital media technologies and thereby try to transform the devices and society? The article discusses this question by presenting the results of two qualitative studies in which people reflect on and engage with the materiality of media technologies. In the first case, the repairing of media devices in Repair Cafés was analyzed, in the second, the focus was on the production and appropriation of the Fairphone, a smartphone which should be produced under fair working conditions. In both initiatives people reflect on the materiality of media technologies, criticize the production and disposal of the devices, and engage with the materiality of the apparatuses in order to change not only the technologies but also society as a whole by contributing to sustainability and the “good life.” The article adds to the field dealing with materiality and digital media technologies.

A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition

“…However, five articles also highlighted the more social aspects of repair café set-ups, including the fact that the materials, tools and know-how to fix broken consumer products are being provided to the visitors [46]. Furthermore, repair cafés constitute places where visitors can bring their broken items and attend free of charge [42,[46][47][48][49], thus touching upon the more social aspects of the set-up, in particular the inclusion of people with a low income.…”

“…Repair cafés have a general focus on electronic products [30,50,51], and receive and recover broken [42] or defective everyday objects [9,47,52]. One article indicated that the products brought for repair include items that are 'highly valued' [46] (p. 934).…”

“…In the category of electronic products, media technologies are one of the most common types of products brought to repair cafés [47]. This includes computers and computer equipment [9,47,52], laptops [52], smartphones and mobile phones [14,47,52,53], radios [47,52], and slide projectors [52].…”

“…Repair cafés constitute new and widespread events [43,52] which are often held at fixed locations in neighbourhoods [45]. The most common types of locations are makerspaces [56], cafés and community centres [43,47,52,57]. However, five articles addressed alternative examples, including the public library, hosted by the librarians, where repairing stations were set up in the library's meeting room and outside on the front lawn [44].…”

“…However, five articles addressed alternative examples, including the public library, hosted by the librarians, where repairing stations were set up in the library's meeting room and outside on the front lawn [44]. In addition, they were held in a pub; in an art studio [47]; in a university context [43]; in an old, temporarily unoccupied building [52]; and finally at a public school, hosted by the schoolteachers [55]. In one article, the organisers of the repair event had put some thought into the choice of location: 'We thought the idea of using buildings that were not new and that were temporarily unoccupied would perfectly fit with the idea of not throwing away goods that can still be used' [52] (p. 189), thus addressing the type of location for the repair café as both 'fixed' and 'temporary', expanding the location to also include temporarily unoccupied buildings.…”