Our world is full of things that we maintain every day. Prior to even fixing or improving, maintenance provides a certain continuity in the tangible and symbolic framework of our lives. We urgently need to expose the myriad of everyday gestures, both ethical and political, that unassumingly give stability to our lives.
This wholly original, fundamental and never-before-touched-on subject is dealt with here using great insight, fascinating stories and anecdotes (from the “maintenance” of Lenin's body to that of the Parisian subway or the Statue of Liberty). It features remarkably diverse content in an erudite and balanced style.
Jérôme Denis is a professor of sociology at the École des Mines.
David Pontille is director of research at the CNRS. Both are part of the Centre de sociologie de l'innovation of the École des Mines. They have been working together for over twenty years. Together, they wrote a Petite sociologie de la signalétique (Presses des Mines, 2010).