C. Dascalu . G. A. Maugin The volume presents recent developments in the This special issue aims at bringing together recent theory of defects and the mechanics of material forces. developmentsinMaterialMechanicsandthemoreclas- Most of the contributions were presented at the Inter- sical Defect Mechanics approaches. The contributions national Symposium on Defect and Material Forces are highlighting recent research on topics like: fracture (ISDMM2007), held in Aussois, France, March 25 and damage, electromagnetoelasticity, plasticity, dis- 29, 2007. tributed dislocations, thermodynamics,...