Network or Net Worth? Deconstructing the Knowledge Society

Abstract

One of the major issues facing humanity in the twenty-first century is how the increasing effects of globalisation will play out in relation to existing societal and global inequalities. At the very crux of this issue are the terms ‘knowledge society’ and ‘knowledge economy’, two terms employed in a variety of different contexts, including business circles, the media, and educational policy statements. The notion of ‘society’ also appears in other related terms, such as ‘learning society’, ‘post-industrial society’, and ‘information society’. However, the exact meaning of what constitutes a ‘knowledge society’ appears open to debate and tends to shift and change depending on the context in which it is used. The word ‘society’ is also frequently interchanged with the word ‘economy’, denoting some kind of equivalence or symmetry between ‘knowledge societies' and ‘knowledge economies’. The implication of this is that these concepts are synonymous with each other. But are they? This article argues that, rather than encompassing the same concepts and principles, the terms ‘knowledge society’ and ‘knowledge economy’ actually conceal diametrically opposed paradigms, a masquerade that poses a considerable threat to the long-held egalitarian goals of educational institutions and to the promise of a networked global ‘society’.