Customer Reviews

Knowledge Societies

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Prof. Shehr has spent his entire academic career studying the implications of the social uses of knowledge. In this book he summarizes both his findings and his forecasts. Contrary to utopian aspirations, societies that give pride of place to knowledge utilization, will not become more egalitarian or just. Instead, social differentiation will be reformulated to favour the knowledgeable and despise the ignorant, to praise the competent and blame the incompetent. In this meritocracy, those who do not show the merit of superior performance will reap such demerits as low income, little opportunity, demeaning jobs, and inferior status.

In other words, the basis of differentiation will change, not the occurence of differentiation. However, the structure of opportunities will improve, in the sense that acces to education will increase, so that acquiring and deploying knowledge will be an option that a significantly larger proportion of people can avail. What this new structure of opportunities will require, in order to exploit successfully, is the early development of a strategic outlook. Prof. Stehr's vision does NOT occur through rose-colored glasses. But it is a future that is by far the most probable. A good read for career-planning.