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This volume explores how technologies are continually reproduced through maintenance, adaptation, and repair, and what this means for philosophy of technology.
Recent work on maintenance in philosophy of technology reflects a growing interest in approaching artifacts and systems as dynamic processes extended through time. This signals a shift in focus away from the traditional concern with how things are initially designed and produced, and toward an examination of how technologies are continually re-produced through time by practices of adjustment, tuning, and adaptation.
As a growing body of literature 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 dimensions. However, much work remains to be done to clarify the conceptual and methodological implications of this growing body of work for the philosophy of technology.
The proposed volume aims to develop and consolidate the theoretical contribution of maintenance to the philosophy of technology by advancing existing discussions and establishing new lines of inquiry around topics that have yet to be considered in relation to maintenance.
This call for papers therefore invites 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 addressing the maintenance of technologies across a range of types and scales: from individual artifacts to systems, networks, and infrastructures; and from crafted objects to digital systems, robotics, and autonomous agents.
While we are specifically interested in theoretical and empirical contributions that advance the growing discussion on maintenance in the philosophy of technology, studies that draw upon the perspectives and resources of related fields, such as Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Media Studies, are also welcome. We also encourage critical approaches that highlight limitations in existing conceptual or methodological approaches to the study of maintenance.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
We invite submissions of 300-word abstracts for proposed chapters by September 15, 2026. Abstracts should be emailed directly to the editors:
mark [at] markthomasyoung [dot] netA.R.Gammon [at] tudelft [dot] nlAuthors will be notified of acceptance within two weeks of the abstract submission deadline.
Accepted contributors will be invited to participate in 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 6,000–8,000 words, excluding references.
Those who would like to discuss potential contributions are encouraged to contact the editors.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Abstract Submission Deadline | September 15, 2026 |
| Notification of Acceptance | October 1, 2026 |
| Chapter Development Workshop | January 13–14, 2027 |
| Draft Chapters Due | March 15, 2027 |
| Revised Chapters Due | September 15, 2027 |