Centre For Science Policy, JNUDr. Susmita Dasguptadasgupta.susmita@gmail.com

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Sociology of Knowledge

Is a sub-discipline of sociology that deals with the social structures and social organization that produce knowledge.

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Sociology of knowledge thus deals with

Social structures – relationship among various social groups in the society and the relationship between individual and society.

Social organization – institutions, politics, ethics, theology, media, public sphere that provides continuity and coherence to everyday life.

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Sociology of knowledge has

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Modernist aspects Difference between

knowledge societies and non-knowledge societies. The main purpose is the classification of societies.

Production of knowledge. Study of mental faculties and connecting such faculties to the social externality.

Main thinkers Marx and Weber

Post modernist aspects Pragmatic application of

knowledge. The limitations of pragmatism

due to interests and other institutional constraints, especially language and media.

Knowledge as cognitive, instrumental and expressive.

Main thinkers Dilthey, Mannheim, Habermas and Adorno

Max Weber, in his thesis on capitalism

Analyzed the differences between societies that are knowledge societies and those that are not.

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Weber said that it was not the case that non-knowledge societies did not possess skills and know-how or were low in technology but,

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The mere possession of know- how was not knowledge

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Knowledge means Acute and systemmatic observations

about certain things. Classification. Validation of beliefs and notions born

out of past experience with new data. Popperian falsification.

Generalization of principles and identify reproducibility.

Ability to critically view. Falsification.

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Knowledge is thus, Secularization – development of specific

principles from which know how in general may be produced and available for people at large.

Rationalization – establish a clear ends-means relationship.

Institutionalization – syllabi, universities, uniform grading systems, text books.

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Societies that have knowledge are Basically those with high degree of

individual freedom and a sense of individual agency.

Open societies that allow upward social mobility.

Democratic and participative. Also instrumental and desirous of

control (post modernist)

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