Books
Also consult Repair — Scholarship and Research for material principally appropriate for post-secondary and beyond. Some scholarly books noted below are more fully described there.
Repair
The Impulse to Restore in a Fragile World
by Elizabeth V, Spelman
For high school and beyond
Published in 2002
Beacon Press
165 pages
“We live in a world constantly in need of repair…We fix things and relationships all the time, without giving much thought to what we are actually doing. Homo reparans, the repairing animal, engages in activities that are at once very ordinary and yet quite mysterious. Repair is the fist book to offer an in-depth exploration of this core aspect of human life…our ability and impulse to fix things.”
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com
Repairing Infrastructures
The Maintenance of Materiality and Power
By Christopher R. Henke and Benjamin Sims
Scholarly work for post-secondary and beyond
See full description on Repair - Scholarship and Research
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/repairing-infrastructures
Repair Work Ethnographies
Revisiting Breakdown, Relocating Materiality
Edited by Ignaz Strebel, Alain Bovet, and Philippe Sormani
Scholarly work for post-secondary and beyond
See full description on Repair - Scholarship and Research
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/repairing-infrastructures
Repair - Sustainable Design Futures
Edited By Markus Berger, Kate Irvin
Scholarly work for post-secondary and beyond
See full description on Repair - Scholarship and Research
www.routledge.com
Repair, Brokenness, Breakthrough
Ethnographic Responses
Edited by Francisco Martínez and Patrick Laviolette
Scholarly work for post-secondary and beyond
See full description on Repair - Scholarship and Research
https://www.berghahnbooks.com
The Art of Repair
by Molly Martin
For middle school and beyond
Published in 2021
Short Books
143 pages
From the publisher: “The Art of Repair…is a collection of stories, tips and fragments of history exploring the humble act of textile repair. With illustrations and inspiring photographs throughout, this beautiful hardback explores the origins of repair and what it means in the world today. It includes ancient and traditional techniques - from Indian Kantha stitching to Japanese boro repair - plus personal repair stories and helpful tips on how to do simple stitches yourself.”
https://mollymartin.uk/the-art-of-repair
Girls Garage
“How to Use Any Tool, Tackle Any Project, and Build the World You Want”
by Emily Pilloton-Lam
For middle school and beyond
Published in 2020
Chronicle Books
320 Pages
"Girls Garage is the only book you'll ever need for a lifetime of building and repair. Packed with over 175 illustrated tool guides, 11 how-to projects, 21 essential skills, and 15 inspiring stories from real-world builder girls and women, Girls Garage will inspire you to fill up your toolbox and get building!"
— Girls Garage website
"An indispensable guide to building things, fixing things, and being a better, bolder version of yourself. If you’ve ever wondered how to change a tire, fix a running toilet, construct a birdhouse, or just feel a little braver in your own skin, this is the book for you. It’s accessible, inspirational, and actionable—and will help you understand why so many girls have benefitted so much from Emily Pilloton and her mission to get us all fearing less and building more."
— Melinda Gates, Philanthropist and Author of The Moment of Lift
Girls Garage, The Book isn’t just for girls, it’s for anyone who wants to learn how to make and repair stuff, and to develop the confidence they can do it.
Fixation
“Have Stuff Without Breaking the Planet”
By Sandra Goldmark
For middle school and beyond
Published in 2020
Island Press
197 pp.
A very accessible book with a compelling arguement, Fixation “takes readers on a quest to radically reimagine what a healthy relationship with our stuff might look like - for individuals hungry for a way forward, for businesses looking for a path to sustainable growth, and for everyone committed to building the personal, social and political changes that will move us to a more sustainable and equitable circular economy.” Highly recommended to help organize our thoughts about what we intuit to be right and good, into an actionable way of life. https://sandragoldmark.com/
Repair Revolution
“How Fixers Are Transforming Our Throwaway Culture”
By Elizabeth Knight and John Wackman
For high school and beyond
Published in 2020
New World Library
310 pages
“Repair Revolution is the first book to comprehensively introduce the ideas of ‘repair culture’ and the wisdom and practice of repair to a larger audience. The book is about much more than Repair Cafes--it is about the way repair initiatives of all kinds build community and awareness about the larger challenges facing our planet. We believe that every town needs a Repair Cafe, Fixit Clinic, Tool Library or something like it, and Repair Revolution is also an empowering guide for readers who want to start a repair initiative of their own.“ https://www.repaircafeusa.org/repair-revolution-book
The Right to Repair
Reclaiming the Things We Own
by Aaaron Perzanowski
Scholarly work for post-secondary and beyond
See full description on Repair - Scholarship and Research
https://www.cambridge.org
Design for Repair: Things Can Be Fixed
By Derrick Mead
For high school and beyond
Published in 2015
Design File - Cooper-Hewitt Museum
45 pages — digital format only
Repair is a design constraint and an outcome of product design. It’s also a practical activity performed—or not—on designed objects. Similar skills and understanding are required to design and fix things well, but these shared capacities are applied to very different practical ends. Design for Repair investigates the historical and current state of repair in material culture as it applies specifically to product designers.
https://www.cooperhewitt.org/publications/design-for-repair/
Designing repair formation
Experience reports & suggestions for teachers
By Janina Klose, Magdalena Meissen, Laura Beyeler, Luisa Stuhr, Melanie Jaeger-Erben
For K-12 teachers
Published in 2023
wbv Publikation
100 pages — hardcopy or free digital download — (in German)
The abstract, translated: “In this book, teachers and educational specialists find suggestions and orientation points to integrate the topic of repairing didactically into their school. The authors first show perspectives of the repair of everyday objects that underline its importance as an educational topic. This is about more than taking responsibility for sustainable development: Repair is described as an empathetic and innovative approach to things, as improvisation, reinvention and emotional work that has a mighty effect.”
”The second part is about the practical design of repairer services at schools. The results of a study for which teachers throughout Germany were surveyed are used for this purpose. They have proven and further developed very different formats. Their experience reports show that repairers can successfully meet the unpredictability of the repair object didactically. The special features of certain objects from the garden tool to the smartphone, what reflections need to be made regarding security and what support options exist is analysed as well as the possibilities that arise within certain conditions on site. Even for a school without a workshop room, even for a teacher without special repair knowledge, there is the possibility to bring the topic of repair to school, whether in regular lessons, in the working group or on the day of hiking.” To be translated into English.
https://www.wbv.de/shop/Reparaturbildung-gestalten-I76140