Knowledge as Culture: The New Sociology of Knowledge

by McCarthy,E. Doyle

• ISBN13: 9780415064965
• ISBN10: 0415064961
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-10-21
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Drawing upon Marxist, French structuralist and American pragmatist traditions, this lively and accessible introduction to the sociology of knowledge gives to its classic texts a fresh reading, arguing that various bodies of knowledge operate within culture to create powerful cultural dispositions, meanings, and categories. It looks at the cultural impact of the forms and images of mass media, the authority of science, medicine, and law as bodies of contemporary knowledge and practice. Finally, it considers the concept of "engendered knowledge" through a consideration of the complex and often troubled relationship between women and science. The sociology of knowledge has sometimes been marginalized as a narrow academic specialization. This lucid study reclaims it as an essential tool for all serious students of culture in all its forms.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
Introduction: The Sociology of Knowledge and Culture	1	(10)
What Is Knowledge?	11	(16)
True and False Knowledges: The Marxist Tradition	27	(20)
The Structures of Knowledges: The French Tradition	47	(17)
Self Knowledges: The American Tradition	64	(21)
Engendered Knowledge: Feminism and Science	85	(21)
Epilogue: Knowledge as Culture	106	(6)
Notes	112	(4)
References	116	(12)
Index	128