call for abstracts: Decentering Design: Technology Through the Maintenance Lens

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: mark [at] markthomasyoung [dot] net & A.R.Gammon [at] tudelft [dot] 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