Negotiating Repairedness: How Artifacts Under Repair Become Contingently Stabilized

Abstract

This paper examines "repairedness" - the contingently stable, working version of an artifact under repair that is negotiated out of multiple possible versions to bring about the temporary conclusion of repair work. Our paper draws on an ethnographic study of an analog electronics repair community in Seoul, South Korea to develop two contributions. First, studying processes of negotiating the repairedness of an artifact accounts for contingency in the properties of the artifact itself, which differs from contingencies in collaborative work practices that have been a focus of CSCW research on repair. Second, a concept of repairedness highlights how ongoing processes of interacting with an artifact nonetheless need to be brought to contingent conclusions, suggesting that an artifact's properties are a valuable site for sustainable engagement. These contributions help CSCW research on repair account for the multiplicity of artifacts highlighted by STS scholars as integral to how humans sustainably engage with artifacts in their practices.