Sociology of knowledge for a social theory of the knowledge-society

Knowledge was a classical topic in philosophy up until the middle of the twentieth century, when it became of the greatest interest to many disciplines, sociology among them, and many specialties, particularly those closely involved in innovation. Indeed, society had been realizing the paramount value of knowledge since WWI-WWII period. Today, characterizing contemporary society as a knowledge-society has become a refrain (e.g., in computer sciences, educational sciences, economics). However, sociology of knowledge is still rather absent from giving its specific contribution for theorizing what a Knowledge-society properly is, what its specific difference and main socio-economical process. In our approach, we take a step behind. We start taking Knowledge as a fundamental dimension of human social life as the Individual and the Aggregates (in their various social forms). A three-dimensional model is then set up, focusing on knowledge processes. We realize that either the Individual supplies knowledge while interacting within her/his own network and/or organization and Knowledge comes to the Individual through her/his living within society. Anyway, the Aggregates is to be seen as the intermediate among the three levels. In so doing, we identify four logic phases of a knowledge circulatory process (knowledge communication): from Individuals to the Aggregates (knowledge generation), from the Aggregates to Knowledge (knowledge institutionalization), from Knowledge to the Aggregates (diffusion), from the Aggregates to the Individuals (socialization). Moreover, three quite different types of knowledge are to be dealt with (intellectual, practical, objectified), each with its own communication way, and also three ways to put knowledge into play within social exchanges (personal knowings; acquaintances through cooperative networks; acknowledges from relevant others and own introjection), interpretable as knowledge capitals to be invested in socio-economical exchanges. Lastly, knowledge-society is seen as an analytical stratum of contemporary society, not exhausting its complexity even if partly decoupled from others strata (in primis the heredity of industrial society, still driven by the capital-work dualism). Every stratum survives (social memory), although under a ‘coverage’ by the new one that re-defines the whole scenario. Such a view is also useful to counter the removal of the past and the retreat of sociology into the present as well, so to gain space for a sociology of the future.