Repairing Repair

Repair is a noble cause, but it is inseparably fraught with political anxieties and machinations. Because the idea of repair is often popularly perceived as an ethically grounded panacea, we frequently miss seeing how it dovetails with our understandings of another problematic concept: injustice. Insofar as we want to operationalize it as a tool for social good, it is important to understand “repair” in its turbulences, fluidities, and anomalies.

Imagine a city — full of rich heritage, economic potential, and informal settlements — struck by a powerful earthquake. The city is decimated. In the aftermath, administrators, policymakers, and civil society feel it is their moral duty to repair their city. Yet after much contentious debate, there is no consensus as to how to rebuild.