History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Tomas Hellström & Sujatha Raman
Department of Innovation Engineering and Management, Chalmers University of Technology
Gothenburg
Sweden
School of Politics, University of Nottingham
Nottingham
United Kingdom
e-mail: tomhel@mot.chalmers.se, sujatha.raman@nottingham.ac.uk
FROM KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: THE COMMODIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE-ABOUT-KNOWLEDGE
A recent twist to the commodification of knowledge is the turning of "knowledge about knowledge production" into a commercial product in its own right. Under the heading of ‘Knowledge Management’ (KM), generic principles about the creation, validation, and control of knowledge are being successfully marketed in the corporate world. Taking KM to be a form of commodification of epistemology, this paper examines the origins, contradictions, and consequences of the phenomenon.
The first part examines the affinities between corporate KM and the ‘knowledge utilization’ movement in social science research, noting that both arise from the need to integrate the products of divided labor. Knowledge utilization was sparked by concerns that while social science research production was spiraling in the postwar years, little was known about its impact on policy and practice. Thus, a distinct research field evolved around the meta-question of how knowledge is processed and used. In the same way, the increase in substantive knowledge production at the firm level has generated a demand for meta-knowledge on knowledge (KM).
In the second part we explore the consequences of turning meta-knowledge into commercial products. So far, knowledge production appeared as an endless process where every round of production generates a new round of meta-level production. The knowledge system simply seems to expand without any mechanism of contraction. But, could the commodification of meta-knowledge reduce the demand for ever more new knowledge? If so, what would be the implications for the organization and social role of knowledge professions?
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006