Repairment of Unstable Sociomaterial Relations: A study on librarians’ and social workers’ roles and practices in addressing the complex needs of vulnerable groups

• In this paper we address the increased digitalization of the fabric of modern welfare societies, and the expectations on individuals to be independent and digitally capable that follows from this. We focus on repairment practices aimed at repairing the lives of individuals situated in unstable sociomaterial relations in the context of social care and a public library in Sweden. The aim was to explore repairment practices in two Swedish empirical contexts: one in a municipal library setting, and one in a social service setting. The analysis was conducted with the help of the concept of repairment, understood in relation to feminist STS points of departure of relationality and entanglement of humans and non-humans. We conducted interviews and observations in these two settings and analyzed these with the help of the concept of repair. The analysis shows that in the context of social service, repairment was enacted differently in relation to different interpretations of existing legislation concerning minimal livelihoods, and that in the context of the public library repairment was enacted in relation to expectations of the library visitors to become digitally independent. We also relate these repairment practices to the current pandemic. 

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Studier av offentlig förvaltning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Public Administration Studies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Repairment

sociomaterial relations

vulnerability

digitalisation

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)