Working Relations

2026-05-24

AI Summary

This study transcends the limitations of conventional theories of maintenance, care, and repair by introducing the novel concept of “working relations.” Grounded in three empirical cases—umbrellas, tractors, and ponds—and informed by perspectives from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and posthumanism, it employs case studies and theoretical reflection to reveal the dynamic, generative, and pluralistic entanglements between humans and material entities. From this analysis, the authors formulate seven propositions that not only expand the philosophical and practical frameworks for understanding interactions between technological artifacts and their environments but also extend this analytical lens to complex socio-technical systems such as Chernobyl, nickel mining, and artificial intelligence. The work thus offers innovative pathways and theoretical tools for rethinking human–nonhuman relations in contemporary technological contexts.

Abstract

This paper offers a concept of working relations as a complement and extension to existing theories of maintenance, care and repair. Building on the cases of an umbrella, a tractor and a pond, it advances seven propositions that might guide and inform further work and thinking in this space. It concludes with the challenging figures of Chernobyl, nickel extraction, and AI, and argues for the centrality of working relations to more generative and pluralistic relations with the things and worlds around us.

Problem

• working relations
• maintenance
• care
• repair
• human-object relations

Innovation

• working relations
• maintenance
• care
• repair
• more-than-human