Knowledge, Communication and Creativity: (Sage Studies in International Sociology)

About the Book

'The book is a theoretically rich and sophisticated contribution to the development of knowledge society studies and to the analysis of the many puzzles of intellectual innovation. It will surely become a sourcebook for anyone interested in creativity and knowledge production' - Karin Knorr Cetina, University of Chicago and University of Konstanz 'Gathers together some of the most interesting social-scientific thinking currently underway in Europe and North America! presents sociology in its most engaging and contemporary form' - Canadian Journal of Sociology Knowledge, communication and creativity are obsessions of contemporary modern societies. The rhetoric of information, imagination, improvisation and play have invaded our daily lives and work spaces. However, little attention has been paid to the sociological relationships among these elements, let alone their impacts as processes driving social change. This book offers penetrating explorations into the creative processes that are tied to knowledge production, shedding new light on: " the impact of a general increase in knowledge on individuals, lifestyles, institutions and technologies; " how new communication and information technologies are transforming social relationships, communities and the international public sphere; and " understanding the ties between creativity, communication and the production of knowledge.

Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION Knowledge, Communication, Reflexive Creativity, and Social Change - Arnaud Sales, Marcel Fournier and Yan Sénéchal KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES Modern Societies as Knowledge Societies - Nico Stehr Knowledge and Societal Change - Jerald Hage Institutional Coordination and the Evolution of Organizational Populations NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMUNICATION, COMMUNITIES AND PUBLIC SPHERE Mobilities, Networks and Communities - John Urry Information Technology and the International Public Sphere - Craig Calhoun Creativity in an Orwellian Key - Steve Fuller A Sceptic′s Guide to the Post-Sociological Imaginary CREATIVITY AND COMMUNICATION IN THE PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE Between Science and Rhetoric - Philippe Breton A Recurrent Debate on the Role of Communication and Creativity in the Definition of Knowledge High Cognitive Complexity and the Making of Major Scientific Discoveries - J. Rogers Hollingsworth The Creativity of Intellectual Networks and the Struggle Over Attention Space - Randall Collins Evaluating Creative Minds - Michèle Lamont, Marcel Fournier, Joshua Guetzkow, Grégoire Mallard and Roxane Bernier The Assessment of Originality in Peer Review

About the Author :
Arnaud Sales holds a Doctorat d'Etat es Lettres et Sciences Humaines, from Universite de Paris 7-Denis Diderot. He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Montreal, Canada. He is a specialist in economic sociology focusing on the interface of the economic and political fields. His research interests center on the relations between the public and private spheres, and the emergence of international private authorities; economic and administrative elites, and knowledge workers; the role of knowledge in social transformations. His publications include: La Bourgeoisie industrielle au Quebec (PUM, 1979); Decideurs et gestionnaires (Editeur officiel du Quebec, 1985); He has edited or co-edited the following volumes: Developpement national et economie mondialisee (Sociologie et Societes, 1979); La recomposition du politique (PUM/L'Harmattan, 1991); Quebec, fin de siecle (Sociologie et Societes,1994); The International Handbook of Sociology (Sage, 2000); New Directions in the Study of Knowledge, Economy and Society (SSIS, Current Sociology, Sage, 2001); Knowledge, Communication and Creativity, (Sage, 2007). He was Vice-Dean of the Universite de Montreal's Faculty of Graduate Studies (1987-1992) and has chaired the Department of Sociology (2000-2007). He is a former Vice-President, International, of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (1995-1998) where he founded the Knowledge, Economy and Society Network with R. Hollingsworth. After chairing the ISA Research Committee 02 on Economy and Society, he was elected Vice-President for Research (1998-2002) of the International Sociological Association and chaired ISA Research Council. In 2006, he was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques of France.

Review :
Gathers together some of the most interesting social-scientific thinking currently underway in Europe and North America… presents sociology in its most engaging and contemporary form

Canadian Journal of Sociology

...a rich volume. It has the great merit of presenting the reflections of sociologists on an ensemble of subjects which are usually explored by economists
International Sociology Review of Books

"The book is a theoretically rich and sophisticated contribution to the development of knowledge society studies and to the analysis of the many puzzles of intellectual innovation. It will surely become a sourcebook for anyone interested in creativity and knowledge production."