Repair for a Broken Economy: Lessons for Circular Economy from an International Interview Study of Repairers

Johan Niskanen, Duncan McLaren and Jonas Anshelm
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Johan Niskanen: Department of Thematic Studies—Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
Duncan McLaren: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Library Avenue, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
Jonas Anshelm: Department of Thematic Studies—Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: The idea of replacing the broken linear economy with circular forms to help address the current sustainability crisis is gaining world-wide traction in policy, industry, and academia. This article presents results from an international interview study with 34 repair practitioners and experts in different fields. The article aims to improve understandings of the potential of repair so as to contribute to a more just, sustainable, and circular economy. Through a five-step qualitative method the results reveal and explore three tensions inherent in repair: first, repair activities constitute different forms of subjectivity; second, repair entails different and sometimes contested temporalities; and finally, even though repair is deeply political in practice, the politics of repair are not always explicit, and some repair activities are actively depoliticized. The opportunities and obstacles embodied in these tensions are generative in repair practices and debates, but poorly reflected in contemporary circular economy discourse. We conclude that a richer, more inclusive, and politicized understanding of repair can support environmental justice in the implementation of circular economy (CE) and provide greater opportunities for just and transformational sustainability strategies and policies.

Keywords: values of repair; circular economy; environmental justice; politicization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2316-:d:502915

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