2 research outputs found
Harnessing non-modernity: a case study in artificial life
Artificial Life is a research field which has developed around the use of synthetic
artificial systems, mostly robotic and virtual, to investigate the supposed characteristic
features of life. The thesis presents a case study of Artificial Life, with the overall
objective of understanding some of the cultural, disciplinary and epistemological
developments that may be distinctive of research communities who ground their work
on a collaborative involvement with non-human simulation models. The study examines
the cultural identity of the Artificial Life research community and its knowledgemaking
practices, as well as its sustainability strategies into existing institutional
contexts. The study aims at being neither an over-localized laboratory micro-study nor
an over general macro-study, but tries to situate itself in the mid-range by combining
both approaches. It has been conducted through a combination of ethnographical
fieldwork and of bibliographical analysis, and places a special focus on the Artificial
Life research group at University of Sussex, which has been selected for its centrality in
the global Artificial Life landscape