Knowledge, communication, and creativity are obsessions of contemporary modern societies. The rhetoric of information, imagination, improvisation and play have invaded our daily lives and work spaces. However, little attention has been paid to the sociological relationships among these elements, let alone their impacts as processes driving social change. This book offers penetrating explorations into the creative processes that are tied to knowledge production, shedding new light on: the impact of a general increase in knowledge on individuals, lifestyles, institutions and technologies; how new communication and information technologies are transforming social relationships, communities and the international public sphere; and understanding the ties between creativity, communication and the production of knowledge.
Author(s): Arnaud Sales, Marcel Fournier
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 208
Contents......Page 6
Biographical Notes......Page 8
Section One Introduction......Page 14
1 Knowledge, Communication, Reflexive Creativity and Social Change......Page 16
Section Two Knowledge and Social Change in Contemporary Societies......Page 42
2 Modern Societies as Knowledge Societies......Page 44
3 Knowledge and Societal Change: Institutional Coordination and the Evolution of Organizational Populations......Page 56
Section Three New Information Technologies and Communication, Communities and Public Sphere......Page 78
4 Mobilities, Networks and Communities......Page 80
5 Information Technology and theI nternational Public Sphere......Page 90
6 Creativity in an Orwellian Key: A Sceptic’s Guide to the Post-Sociological Imaginary......Page 110
Section Four Creativity and Communication in the Production of Knowledge......Page 126
7 Between Science and Rhetoric: A Recurrent Debate on the Role of Communication and Creativity in the Definition of Knowledge......Page 128
8 High Cognitive Complexity and the Making of Major Scientific Discoveries......Page 142
9 The Creativity of Intellectual Networks and the Struggle over Attention Space......Page 169
10 Evaluating Creative Minds: The Assessment of Originality in Peer Review......Page 179
Name Index......Page 195
Subject Index......Page 200
