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Repair work as good work: craft and love in classic car restoration training

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posted on 2023-06-09, 13:49 authored by Odul BozkurtOdul Bozkurt, Rachel Lara Cohen
Repair work is essential if we are to develop environmentally sustainable societies, but repair activity has largely disappeared in advanced economies. Where it survives, work in repair is typically ‘dirty’ and undesirable. This article asks how repair work can be experienced as ‘good work’, drawing on the accounts of 20 trainees on a classic car restoration course. We observe that two features made repair ‘good work’ in their eyes: craft and love. Craft skills enabled trainees to imagine improved employment futures, but also engendered emotional satisfactions. What the trainees emphasized even more was love, in four distinct ways. First, there was ‘object love’ for the classic car. Second, love was evoked as repair reconnected them with ‘authentic’ younger selves. Third, love was claimed to be a prerequisite to do the work. Fourth, love mediated market relationships, connecting repairers and clients in a ‘community of enthusiasm’. Our discussion contributes to studies of workplace emotions, which typically focus on feminized work, by showing how love also matters in experiences of masculine work. Identifying the attractions of repair, we also consider the liminal context of training and highlight the key conditions for the survival and growth of repair as paid ‘good work’.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Human Relations

ISSN

0018-7267

Publisher

SAGE

Issue

6

Volume

72

Page range

1105-1128

Department affiliated with

  • Management Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Future of Work Hub Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-06-18

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-06-18

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-06-15

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