Knowledge

Almost everything we do is based on our knowledge of the world around us: how we dress in the morning, how we go about our work, how we interact with other people - all these things rest on our understanding of how we know life. Knowledge might be seen as the most central as well as the most under-researched trait of social life: we mainly think of knowledge as either technical (scientific knowledge) or formal (as bestowed by academic education). The things that we know are obscured in our everyday routines, not revealing their true status as 'known' - until critical moments demand it. This book establishes a fundamentally social understanding of knowledge.

Introduction Part 1: Classic Sociological Conceptions of Knowledge Part 2: Knowledge about Knowledge 2.1. Attributes of Knowledge 2.2. Knowledge as a Capacity to Act 2.3. Knowledge and Information 2.4. Practical Knowledge 2.5. Additional Knowledge 2.6. The Uneven Development of Knowledge 2.7. The Limits of the Growth of Knowledge 2.8. A Sociological Concept of Knowledge and its Context Part 3: Policing Knowledge 3.1. The Self-Realization of Knowledge 3.2. The Self-Protection of Knowledge 3.3. Knowledge Becomes Superfluous Part 4: Forms of Knowledge 4.1. Everyday Knowledge 4.2. The Power of Everyday Knowledge 4.3. Indigenous or Traditional Knowledge 4.4. Tacit Knowledge Part 5: Functions of Knowledge 5.1. Knowledge as Power and Authority 5.2. The Power of Ideas 5.3. Knowledge and the Economy 5.4. Knowledge as Property and Public Good Part 6: The Benefits of Knowledge 6.1. The Distribution of Knowledge 6.2. Knowledge, Power and Participation 6.3. Knowledge Societies