[Themaintainers] CFP: Decentering Design: Technology Through the Maintenance Lens (Edited Volume)

[mark young]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to share with you all a call for papers for a proposed
anthology on Maintenance and Philosophy of Technology that I’ll be editing
together with Andrea Gammon. The deadline for chapter proposals is
September 15th. If anyone has any questions or wants to discuss ideas for
potential contributions to the volume don’t hesitate to get in touch with
me directly!

Wishing you all a great summer,

Best,
Mark

Mark Thomas Young
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Oslo
https://uio.academia.edu/MarkThomasYoung

Proposed Collected Volume:

*Decentering Design: Technology Through the Maintenance Lens*



Editors: Mark Thomas Young (University of Paderborn) & Andrea Gammon (TU
Delft)



Recent work on maintenance in philosophy of technology reflects a growing
interest in approaching artifacts and systems as dynamic processes extended
through time. As such, it highlights a shift in focus that is currently
underway - away from the traditional concern with how things are initially
designed and produced - and towards an examination of the way technologies
are often continually re-produced through time by practices of adjustment,
tuning and adaptation.

As a growing body of literature now demonstrates, approaching technology
through the lens of maintenance is crucial, not only for delineating the
environmental, political and social significance of technologies, but also
for apprehending their ontological, epistemological and ethical aspects.
However, much work remains to be done in clarifying the conceptual and
methodological implications of this growing body of work for philosophy of
technology.

The proposed volume aims to develop and consolidate the theoretical
contribution of maintenance to philosophy of technology by advancing
existing discussions and establishing new lines of enquiry around topics
which have yet to be considered in relation to maintenance.  As such, this
call for papers stands as a invitation for researchers to consider how
reflecting on the ways in which the technologies they study are sustained
over time may further enrich philosophical understandings of technological
maintenance. We welcome contributions that address the maintenance of
technologies across a range of kinds and scales: from individual artifacts
to systems, networks and infrastructures, from crafted objects to digital
systems, robotics and autonomous agents. While we are specifically
interested in theoretical and empirical contributions which advance the
growing discussion on maintenance in philosophy of technology, studies
which aim to so by drawing upon the perspectives and resources of related
fields, such as STS and Media Studies are welcome, as are critical
approaches which highlight limitations in existing conceptual or
methodological approaches to the study of maintenance.  Suggested topics
include but are not limited to;



-       Maintenance, Agency and Autonomous Systems

-       Social, Political and Historical perspectives on Maintenance as
Labor

-       Metaphysics of Maintenance and the Function or Malfunction of
Artifacts

-       Creativity, Interpretation and Values in Heritage Conservation

-       The Evolution of Networks, Systems and Infrastructures

-       Maintenance, Technology and the Body (i.e. Implants & Prosthetics)

-       Materiality, Durability and the Life of Materials

-       Value Sensitive Design and Maintenance

-       Maintenance of Digital Systems, Software & AI

-       Moral and Ethical implications of Maintenance

-       Upcycling, Retrofitting and other Practices of Transformative
Maintenance

-       Postphenomenology and Maintenance

-       Process Philosophical Perspectives on Maintenance

-       Maintenance and Biotechnology

-       Aesthetics and Maintenance

-       Sustainability, Circularity and Environmental Dimensions of
Maintenance

-       Legislations, Warranties and Policymaking on Maintenance

-       Maintenance as Defence or Security (i.e. Cybersecurity)



We invite submissions of 300 word abstracts for proposed chapter by *September
15th 2026*. emailed directly to the editors at mark at markthomasyoung.net &
A.R.Gammon at tudelft.nl


Authors will be notified of acceptance within two weeks of the abstract
submission deadline. Accepted contributions will receive an invitation to a
chapter development workshop to be held at the University of Paderborn in
January 2027 generously funded by the Society for Philosophy of Technology
(SPT). Contributions are expected to range from 6000-8000 words (not
including references). Those who would like to discuss potential
contributions are encouraged to get in contact with the editors.



*Anticipated Timeframe*



Abstract Submission Deadline:           September 15th 2026

Notification of Acceptance:  October 1st 2026

Chapter Development Workshop:  January 13th & 14th 2027

Draft Chapters Due:           March 15th 2027

Revised Chapters Due:  September 15th 2027
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