E-raamat: Society and Knowledge in a Turbulent Era

Nico Stehr, unlike most others, is truly a global social theorist. It is not just that he has held academic positions abroad as well as in his home country Germany, but also that his thinking is global. He tries, and succeeds, to cover the full map of global social issues. Here knowledge is Stehrs subject, but not in a narrow epistemological sense. For Nico Stehr, in Society and Knowledge in a Turbulent Era, knowledge is fraught with troubles even as it offers solutionsin the economic, political, environmental, as well as the global social sphere. -- Charles Lemert, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, USA Society and Knowledge in a Turbulent Era by renowned German-Canadian sociologist, Nico Stehr, is the latest of his many astute contributions to knowledge about the centrality of knowledge to societies and economies. Arguing here that knowledge is both a resource and a source of power, this book divides into four parts with a conclusion about knowledge in the future/the future of knowledge. Key for the reader is that each part, indeed each chapter, can stand alone offering deep insights on the crucial roles knowledge plays in these times of turbulence. The book overall, aims to fill gaps in social science literature and in understandings about knowledge generally through diagnostic theory. It fulfills these aims admirably and is truly a tour de force. -- Susan A. McDaniel, University of Alberta, Canada Nico Stehrs Society and Knowledge in a Turbulent Era  is a masterful meditation on the central role of knowledge in shaping contemporary life. At once sociological and philosophical, the book provides a powerful diagnostic framework for understanding how crises of climate, democracy, and inequality are entangled with the uneven circulation and mobilization of knowledge. Stehrs insight that knowledge is not merely information but a social capacitysticky, contested, and asymmetrically distributedoffers a compelling lens on the architecture of global inequality, knowledge capitalism, intellectual property, and new centers of elite power. Especially timely is his treatment of the fraught relationship between climate science and democracy, warning against both technocratic authoritarianism and populist science denialism. This is an essential text for anyone seeking to understand the social logics of knowledge in a world increasingly defined by both turbulence and the urgent demand for foresight. -- Michael C. Dreiling, University of Oregon, USA Written in the tradition of Karl Mannheim, Society and Knowledge in a Turbulent Era, combines analysis of the material social and economic conditions of contemporary life with creatively rethought sociology of knowledge. Its both a remarkable synthesis and a source of numerous new insights. Nico Stehr brings into clear focus transformations ranging from AI, new forms of surveillance, and the fate of specialized knowledge in economic production to the future of inequality, democracy, and climate change. -- Craig Calhoun, Arizona State University, USA What is knowledge and how can knowledge be used to solve the grand challenges of our time? Nico Stehr provides an insightful analysis of the influence of knowledge beyond the typical boundaries of technical and scientific knowledge and discusses comprehensively its importance in times of crisis. A book I would strongly recommend to anyone interested the role of knowledge in solving todays crisis. -- Ingvill Constanze Ųdegaard, University of Oslo, Norway