IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i4p2316-d502915.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Repair for a Broken Economy: Lessons for Circular Economy from an International Interview Study of Repairers

Author

Listed:
  • Johan Niskanen

    (Department of Thematic Studies—Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden)

  • Duncan McLaren

    (Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Library Avenue, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK)

  • Jonas Anshelm

    (Department of Thematic Studies—Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden)

Abstract

The idea of replacing the broken linear economy with circular forms to help address the current sustainability crisis is gaining world-wide traction in policy, industry, and academia. This article presents results from an international interview study with 34 repair practitioners and experts in different fields. The article aims to improve understandings of the potential of repair so as to contribute to a more just, sustainable, and circular economy. Through a five-step qualitative method the results reveal and explore three tensions inherent in repair: first, repair activities constitute different forms of subjectivity; second, repair entails different and sometimes contested temporalities; and finally, even though repair is deeply political in practice, the politics of repair are not always explicit, and some repair activities are actively depoliticized. The opportunities and obstacles embodied in these tensions are generative in repair practices and debates, but poorly reflected in contemporary circular economy discourse. We conclude that a richer, more inclusive, and politicized understanding of repair can support environmental justice in the implementation of circular economy (CE) and provide greater opportunities for just and transformational sustainability strategies and policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Johan Niskanen & Duncan McLaren & Jonas Anshelm, 2021. "Repair for a Broken Economy: Lessons for Circular Economy from an International Interview Study of Repairers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2316-:d:502915
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2316/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2316/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burger, Martijn & Stavropoulos, Spyridon & Ramkumar, Shyaam & Dufourmont, Joke & van Oort, Frank, 2019. "The heterogeneous skill-base of circular economy employment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 248-261.
    2. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    3. Catherine E. Cherry & Nick F. Pidgeon, 2018. "Why Is Ownership an Issue? Exploring Factors That Determine Public Acceptance of Product-Service Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer D. Russell & Sahra Svensson‐Hoglund & Jessika Luth Richter & Carl Dalhammar & Leonidas Milios, 2023. "A matter of timing: System requirements for repair and their temporal dimensions," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 845-855, June.
    2. Brieanne Berry & Jamie Haverkamp & Cindy Isenhour & Melissa M. Bilec & Sara Sophia Lowden, 2023. "Is Convergence Around The Circular Economy Necessary? Exploring the Productivity of Divergence in US Circular Economy Discourse and Practice," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1597-1622, September.
    3. Johan Niskanen & Duncan McLaren, 2023. "The Political Economy of Circular Economies: Lessons from Future Repair Scenario Deliberations in Sweden," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1677-1701, September.
    4. Sahra Svensson-Hoglund & Jennifer D. Russell & Jessika Luth Richter, 2023. "A Process Approach to Product Repair from the Perspective of the Individual," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1327-1359, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johan Niskanen & Duncan McLaren, 2023. "The Political Economy of Circular Economies: Lessons from Future Repair Scenario Deliberations in Sweden," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1677-1701, September.
    2. Buyukyazici, Duygu & Quatraro, Francesco, 2025. "The skill requirements of the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    3. Elvira Haezendonck & Karel Van den Berghe, 2020. "Patterns of Circular Transition: What Is the Circular Economy Maturity of Belgian Ports?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Brian R. Chabowski & Peter Gabrielsson & G. Tomas M. Hult & Forrest V. Morgeson, 2025. "Sustainable international business model innovations for a globalizing circular economy: a review and synthesis, integrative framework, and opportunities for future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 56(3), pages 383-402, April.
    5. J. Brusselaers & K. Breemersch & T. Geerken & M. Christis & B. Lahcen & Y. Dams, 2022. "Correction to: Macroeconomic and environmental consequences of circular economy measures in a small open economy," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 68(3), pages 819-819, June.
    6. Chedrak Chembessi & Christophe Beaurain & Geneviève Cloutier, 2022. "Analyzing Technical and Organizational Changes in Circular Economy (CE) Implementation with a TOE Framework: Insights from a CE Project of Kamouraska (Quebec)," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 915-936, September.
    7. Francesca Bassi & Mariangela Guidolin, 2021. "Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy in European SMEs: Investigating the Role of Green Jobs and Skills," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Horbach, Jens & Rammer, Christian, 2019. "Employment and performance effects of circular economy innovations," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-016, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Davide Bruno & Marinella Ferrara & Felice D’Alessandro & Alberto Mandelli, 2022. "The Role of Design in the CE Transition of the Furniture Industry—The Case of the Italian Company Cassina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, July.
    10. Francesca Gennari, 2023. "The transition towards a circular economy. A framework for SMEs," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(4), pages 1423-1457, December.
    11. Jaroslaw Golebiewski & Josu Takala & Oskar Juszczyk & Nina Drejerska, 2019. "Local contribution to circular economy. A case study of a Polish rural municipality," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 21(3), pages 771-791.
    12. Risa Arai & Martin Calisto Friant & Walter J. V. Vermeulen, 2024. "The Japanese Circular Economy and Sound Material-Cycle Society Policies: Discourse and Policy Analysis," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 619-650, March.
    13. Michael Edward Allkins & Tshepo Johannes Chauke & Portia Pearl Siyanda Sifolo, 2025. "Delivering Extraordinary Adventure Experiences During the “Chthulucene”: Circular Economy Challenges and Digital Solutions for the Environmentally Conscious Visitor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, January.
    14. Millar, Neal & McLaughlin, Eoin & Börger, Tobias, 2019. "The Circular Economy: Swings and Roundabouts?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 11-19.
    15. Pengen Mai & Steven James Day, 2023. "Persuading Reluctant Customers: The Online Marketing Communications of Car Sharing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-18, December.
    16. Nikos Chatzistamoulou & Phoebe Koundouri, 2020. "The Economics of Sustainable Development," DEOS Working Papers 2005, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    17. Halkos, George & Managi, Shunsuke, 2023. "New developments in the disciplines of environmental and resource economics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 513-522.
    18. Jose García‐Quevedo & Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Ester Martínez‐Ros, 2020. "Barriers to the circular economy in European small and medium‐sized firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2450-2464, September.
    19. Nuri Cihan Kayaçetin & Chiara Piccardo & Alexis Versele, 2022. "Social Impact Assessment of Circular Construction: Case of Living Lab Ghent," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Van Phuc Phan, 2024. "Is a Circular Economy Model for a Developing Country Feasible? A Discussion from the Perspective of Mekong Delta of Vietnam," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 63-74, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2316-:d:502915. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.