Sociology of Knowledge

Abstract The sociology of knowledge is the subfield of sociology devoted to the interplay between social conditions and ideas. The subfield has traced the many ways that social factors, such as military funding, public controversy, generational experience, and personal rivalry, have helped to shape the ideas that scholars and intellectuals produce. The entry describes the early development of the sociology of knowledge, with reference to Max Scheler, Karl Mannheim, Emile Durkheim, and Karl Marx, and more recent contributions from Robert K. Merton, the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), and science and technology studies (STS). Influential approaches to the sociology of intellectual life from the last few decades are surveyed. The potential for media and communication theory to inform the sociology of knowledge, and vice versa, is taken up in conclusion.