The UMass Electronics Repair Collective: Combatting Planned Obsolescence and Constructing Post-Capitalist Politics

Presenter

Kala Cielo Garrido

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Ellen Correa, Department of Civic Engagement & Service-Learning, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 5, 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board C15, Poster Showcase Room (163), Row 2 (C11-C20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Capitalism is the dominant socio-economic system in the U.S., based on extraction, maximizing profit, competition, and individualism. It is often hard for people to see post-capitalist ways of being, and believe capitalism is the best we can do, all-encompassing, and unchangeable. However, numerous projects exist that challenge capitalist ways of being and offer alternatives, such as mutual aid projects and solidarity economy networks. Rather than privileging individualism, competition and profit seeking, these alternatives embody values of cooperation and mutuality, economic and social justice, democracy, ecological health, individual and collective wellbeing, and diversity and pluralism (Miller, 2010). Partnering with the UMass Mutual Aid Project and The UMass Amherst Makerspace, I aim to establish an Electronics Repair Collective (ERC) where students can repair or donate electronics. While offering a practical resource, the ERC will interrupt the technology waste stream on campus, and encourage students to fix their broken items, rather than buy new ones. The ERC will serve as an entry point to talk about capitalism and post-capitalism through education and conversations about planned obsolescence, a capitalist business strategy where commodities are built to last a short time in order to maximize profits, which consequently leads to unnecessary extraction and waste. In sum, my project aims to build a non-capitalist form of exchange on campus that both helps to meet a need, and facilitates visioning about a post-capitalist world, by striking a balance between openness and transformation, where anyone can feel comfortable using the resource, but also is a politicized, non-capitalist space.

Keywords

mutual aid, sustainability, post-capitalism, right to repair, planned obsolescence

Research Area

Environmental Science and Sustainability

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