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About Us
Rationale
Telecommunications infrastructure in Tblisi. Photograph taken by Andrew Barry whilst conducting research for the project 'Social and Human Rights Impact Assessment and the Governance of Technology'.
CSISP's distinctive approach arises from a shared engagement by its
members, and by people across and outside of Goldsmiths, with the study
of invention. On the one hand, invention is at the heart of many
accounts of contemporary social change. It is at stake in, for example,
the concern with innovation in the market and in the media, the
significance attached to cultural inventiveness in the making of
people, places and times, the value attributed to creativity as a
resource in the organisation of work processes, the importance attached
to intellectual property, and the putative impact of sociomaterial
novelty (biotechnology, design products, information technology) on the
processes of everyday life. This indicates a broad set of empirical
issues of immense public concern.
CSISP Director Mike Michael (left) in conversation with Bryan Wynne, Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University.
On the other hand, the concept of invention also has a theoretical
dimension. It points to a sociological focus upon the transformation of
social and material realities, rather than upon the problem of social
order. Instead of taking the identity of social and material entities
as given and foundational, the concept of invention points to the way
that persons and objects can be understood in terms of process and
temporality in general, and novelty in particular. This orientation
connects the interests of the Centre in science, technology, art and
design to questions of life, duration, the body, environment, ethics,
and politics.
CSISP has a physical presence on the 12th floor of Warmington Tower at
Goldsmiths, and a virtual presence through its website. The CSISP
website is an integral part of the functioning and profile of the
Centre. It is regularly updated with news of events and other research
activities, and provides a space for genuinely interdisciplinary
collaborations.
More about us...