Subtle acts of care: emotion and materiality among repairers in Santiago, Chile

Repair practices, from restoring heirloom furniture to fixing everyday household appliances, are increasingly recognised as sociocultural responses to crises of environmental sustainability, economic precarity and social disconnection. This article explores repair practices in Santiago, Chile, drawing on interviews with 19 small-scale repairers working with diverse objects, such as appliances, furniture, sound equipment and clothing. Rather than viewing repair solely as a technical intervention to restore function, the article examines repair as an emotionally embedded, sociomaterial practice that sustains relationships between people, things and environments. In addition, the article incorporates maintenance as a related but distinct form of material care: the ongoing, often invisible work that prevents breakdown and extends the use of everyday objects. Repairers are shown to perform affective and ethical labour, crafting attachments to objects, clients and their own sense of vocation. Their work challenges the disposability inherent in contemporary consumption patterns, even as it unfolds under precarious material and economic conditions. By focusing on both the affective and embodied dimensions of repair and maintenance, the article contributes to debates in repair studies, material culture and emotional labour, offering insights into how care and creativity operate within informal economies.