Stefan Krebs is Assistant Professor for Contemporary History at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH). He studied history, political science and philosophy at the universities Aachen and Aix-en-Provence. He received his PhD in the history of technology from RWTH Aachen University. As postdoc, Stefan Krebs worked in projects on the cultural history of car sound design (Eindhoven University of Technology); listening practices of engineers, scientists and physicians (Maastricht University); and the innovation history of Kunstkopf stereophony (University of Luxembourg). He is author of Technikwissenschaft als soziale Praxis [Engineering Science as Social Practice]. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009; and (together with Karin Bijsterveld, Eefje Cleophas and Gijs Mom) Sound and Safe: A History of Listening Behind the Wheel. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

In 2015 he received the Maurice Daumas prize of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) for his article “Dial Gauge versus Senses 1–0”: German Auto Mechanics and the Introduction of New Diagnostic Equipment, 1950–1980. Technology and Culture 55, 2 (2014): 354–389.

Rebecca Mossop holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vienna in Philosophy and a master’s degree in History and Philosophy of Science. During her studies she focused on human enhancement technologies, (digital) infrastructures and language as key parts of human interaction and society.

Since September 2019 she has been conducting a doctoral project entitled “Infrastructures of repair: maintaining the telephone system in Luxembourg” funded by Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg (FNR) as part of the CORE Project “Repairing Technology – Fixing Society?” supervised by A-Prof. Dr. Stefan Krebs.

Thomas Hoppenheit is a PhD Candidate at the C²DH. Within the FNR funded project Repairing technology – fixing society? History of maintenance and repair in Luxembourg (1918 – 1990) he is researching the development of urban repair networks in the city of Luxembourg and Esch-sur-Alzette.

He holds a Bachelor degree in Sociology and Cultural/Social Anthropology as well as a Master degree in Social Anthropology from Münster University (Germany). With his main interests in the broader field of technology and culture from use to repair and beyond, he wrote his Master dissertation on “Digital Networks in Estonia” after six months of qualitative field research.

Main supervisor: A-Prof. Dr. Stefan Krebs (C²DH)

The details of each author can be found at the beginning of their corresponding post(s).

We are very grateful for contributions by (in alphabetical order):

Aude Barthe-Monié, PhD candidate at the Institut d’Histoire, Université de Neuchâtel: Conference report: Repairing Technology – Fixing Society

Ödül Bozkurt, Professor of Work and Employment at the University of Sussex Business School: Repair Work as Craft and Career: Insights from the Apprenticeship Journey in Classic Car Restoration

Sandra Gratwohl, Ph.D. Researcher Scholar, SNF Doc. CH: Between Replacement and Addition: Maternal-fetal Surgery for Spina Bifida

Anna Harris, Associate Professor, Maastricht University: Tinkering and innovation in medicine: Ethnographic experiments for studying repair and maintenance

Chris Hesselbein, Junior Assistant Professor at the Politecnico di Milano: Maintaining Shoes/Feet

Amanda McMillan Lequieu, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Drexel University: Ghosts of iron and steel: Learning about loss in stories of industrial infrastructure un-maintenance

Laura Meneghello, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Siegen: Between Old and New: Modernising, Maintaining and Repairing Pneumatic Tube Systems

Yovanna Pineda, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Central Florida: Spaces of Design & Repair in Twentieth Century Argentine Factories

Tijana Rupcic, PhD candidate at the Central European University: Iron Gates: A Study on Maintenance of the Hydro and Navigation System

Madison Snider, Research Fellow at Siegel Family Endowment: Repairing a “smart” infrastructure: Sustainability orientations in tension between infrastructuring publics

Nils Theinert, Ph.D. Candidate, German Maritime Museum/Leibniz Institute for Maritime History: Replacement and the History of Submarines

Jacob Ward, Assistant Professor in the History of Information, Computing, and Digitality, Maastricht University: Maintenance and Political Economy: Fixing Submarine Cables to Reinvent Transatlantic Capitalism

Sangwoon Yoo, Assistant Professor, Division of Humanities and Liberal Arts, Hanbat National University: Repairing Innovation