Modern societies as knowledge societies

Nico Stehr

pp. 309-331

in: Marian T. Adolf (ed), Nico Stehr, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

New social realities require a new perspective. In advanced societies, the capacity of the individual to say no has increased considerably. At the same time, the ability of the large social institutions that have significantly shaped the nature of the twentieth century to get things done has diminished in the past couple of decades. Or, appropriating Lowe's (1971: 563) astute insights, we are witnessing a change from social realities in which "things", at least from the point of view of most individuals simple "happened" to a social world in which more and more things are "made" to happen. In this contribution, these new realities are described as representing the emergence of advanced societies as knowledge societies.