
Series
Volume 3
Politics of Repair
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Fixing Motorcycles in Post-Repair Societies
Technology, Aesthetics and Gender
Gabriel Jderu
166 pages, 16 illus., bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-80073-877-5 $120.00/£92.00 / Hb / Published (March 2023)
eISBN 978-1-80073-878-2 eBook
Reviews
“Centered in Romania, the volume provides a unique commentary on the cultural and social relations of a post-repair society…Recommended.” • Choice
“A welcome addition to a host of areas of academic study, including, but not limited to the transformation of an analogue to a digital world and how that change has affected economies, social structures, gender relations and concepts of personal identity.” • Steven Alford, Nova Southeastern University
“The book draws attention to an overlooked area of mobility studies—repair and maintenance. It inventively demonstrates the social and political dimensions of technology and is especially attentive to gender distinctions and differences.” • Suzanne Ferriss, Nova Southeastern University
Description
Most social science studies on automobility have focused on the production, usage, identity construction and aesthetic improvements of personal means of transportation. What happens if we shift the focus to the labour, knowledge and social relations that go into the unavoidable moments of maintenance and repair? Taking motorcycling in Romania as an ethnographic entry point, this book documents how bikers handle the inevitable moments of malfunction and breakdown. Using both mobile and sedentary research methods, the book describes the joys and troubles experienced by amateur mechanics, professional mechanics and untechnical men and women when fixing bikes.
Gabriel Jderu is a sociology professor, ethnographer, and, since 2012, a certified mechanic. He teaches Research Methods and The Sociology of the Body at the Department of Sociology, University of Bucharest, Romania.
Subject: Mobility StudiesSociologyGender Studies and Sexuality
Area: Central/Eastern Europe
Contents
Download ToC (PDF)