Sociology of knowledge is a sub-discipline of sociology that deals with how social structures and social organization influence the production of knowledge. It examines social structures like relationships among social groups and individuals, as well as social organizations like institutions, politics, media, and public sphere. Sociology of knowledge takes both modernist and post-modernist approaches. Modernism focuses on differences between knowledge and non-knowledge societies, how knowledge is produced, and thinkers like Marx and Weber. Post-modernism examines pragmatic applications of knowledge, limitations due to interests and language, knowledge as cognitive, instrumental and expressive, and thinkers like Dilthey, Mannheim, Habermas and Adorno. Weber analyzed differences between societies that have knowledge

1. Centre For
Science Policy,
JNU
Dr. Susmita Dasgupta
dasgupta.susmita@gmail.c
om
•1

2. Sociology of Knowledge
Is a sub-discipline of sociology that deals with the social
structures and social organization that produce
knowledge.
•2

3. 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.
•3

4. Sociology of knowledge has
•4
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

5. Max Weber, in his thesis on capitalism
Analyzed the differences
between societies that are
knowledge societies and
those that are not.
•5

6. 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,
•6

7. The mere possession of
know- how was not knowledge
•7

8. 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.
•8

9. 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.
•9

10. 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)
•10