Knowledge: (Key Ideas)

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. Knowledge is re-embedded into the discussion of how we, as individuals and groups, and as a modern society produce and reproduce knowledge as the foundation of our lives. Knowledge is approached as a societal phenomenon, as we uncover the ingredients and settings in which knowledge is produced and put to use.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
Marian Adolf is Associate Professor of Media Culture at the Department of Communication and Cultural Management at Zeppelin University. His research interest revolves around the interface of media change and social change, the societal role of communication and cultural theory. He regularly publishes on topics such as the public sphere, mediatization and media culture and the culture of the economy. Nico Stehr is Karl Mannheim Professor of Cultural Studies at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen Germany. He has published widely on the topic of Knowledge and is one of the proponents of Knowledge Society, a term that has acquired widespread currency not only in academia.

Review :
Adolf and Stehr provide a valuable introduction to the way that knowledge is coming to be understood by sociologists– not as a separate domain to be explained by social factors, but as distributed in society, integral to all of social life and essential to its understanding. This is exposition and critique in the best sense: informative, comprehensive, historical, balanced, and, above all, clear. - Stephen Turner, Distinguished University Professor, University of South Florida Marian Adolf and Nico Stehr have provided　the only portable guide to the nature of knowledge from a comprehensive social scientific perspective. Teachers and students will find the book's short chapters and functional organization attractive. By drawing on a wide range of disciplines, yet　focused on the idea of　knowledge as the capacity for action, the book promises to　be a standard reference work in the coming years. - Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Professor of Social Epistemology, University of Warwick Knowledges of many kinds permeate human life. Yet, the remain inscrutable to those who attempt to understand the. Adolf and Stehr come as close as anyone, perhaps as close any one can, to clearly outline the whys and wherefore of knowledge. Knowledge is a marvelous achievement. -Charles Lemert, Senior Fellow, Yale; author of Globalization: the Basics (Paradigm, 2014)