Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Geographies of Science pp 23–34Cite as

Global Knowledge?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Knowledge and Space ((KNAS,volume 3))

Abstract

When Wells published his monumental two-volume The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind in 1931, one of the memorable metaphors that appeared in the first volume was the “abolition of distance.” Wells saw the analysis of the conquest of distance as the central reason for the urgent need to generate “sound common ideas about work and wealth,” but his analysis of the economy of the modern world was also a treatise about what people now call the globalization process. Because of the abolition of distance, geography “has become something very different from what it was” (Wells, 1931, p. 4).1

This chapter is a considerably expanded and revised version of an oral presentation at the third symposium on “Knowledge and Space” in Heidelberg, June 27–30, 2007. I am grateful to Paul Malone for his editorial assistance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter is a considerably expanded and revised version of an oral presentation at the third symposium on “Knowledge and Space” in Heidelberg, June 27–30, 2007. I am grateful to Paul Malone for his editorial assistance.

References

  • Agrawal, A. (2002). Indigenous knowledge and the politics of classification. International Social Science Journal, 59, 287–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. J. (1962). Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In R. R. Nelson (Ed.), The rate and direction of inventive activity: Economic and social factors (pp. 609–625). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentham, J. (1839). A manual of political economy. New York: G. P. Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boldrin, M., & Levine, D. K. (2002). Perfectly competitive innovation. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Research Department, Staff Report 303. Retrieved March 8, 2008, from http://www.dklevine.com/papers/pci23.pdf

  • Borgmann, A. (1999). Holding on to reality. The nature of information at the turn of the millennium. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, V. (1945). As we may think. Atlantic Monthly, 176(1), 101–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, R., & Foray, D. (1997). The economics of codification and the diffusion of knowledge. Industrial and Corporate Change, 6, 595–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durkheim, E. (1983). Pragmatism and sociology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (J. Whitehouse, trans.)(Original work published 1955)

    Google Scholar 

  • Easton, D. (1991). The division, integration, and transfer of knowledge. In D. Easton & C. S. Schelling (Eds.), Divided knowledge: Across disciplines, across cultures (pp. 7–36). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easton, D. (1997). The future of the postbehavioral phase in political science. In K. R. Monroe (Ed.), Contemporary empirical political theory (pp. 13–46). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernando, J. L. (2003). NGOs and the production of indigenous knowledge under the condition of postmodernity. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 590, 54–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. B. (2005). Does globalization of the scientific/engineering workforce threaten US economic leadership? (NBER Working Paper No. W11457). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=755693

  • Geanakoplos, J. (1992). Common knowledge. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6, 53–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gough, N. (2002). Thinking/acting locally/globally: Western science and environmental education in a global knowledge economy. International Journal of Science Education, 24, 1217–1237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1964). Dogmatismus, Vernunft und Entscheidung—Zur Theorie und Praxis in der wissenschaftlichen Zivilisation [Dogmatism, reason, and decision-making—On theory and practice in scientific civilization]. In J. Habermas (Ed.), Theorie und Praxis (pp. 231–257). Neuwied: Luchterhand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, F., & Bauer, E. K. (2002). Bildersprache. Otto Neurath Visualisierungen [Metaphorical language: Otto Neurath Visualizations]. Vienna: WUV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirshleifer, J. (1971). The private and social value of information and the reward to innovative activity. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 63, 31–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janich, P., & Weingarten, M. (2002). Verantwortung ohne Verständnis? Wie die Ethikdebatte zur Gentechnik von deren Wissenschaftstheorie abhängt [Responsibility without understanding? How the ethics debate on genetic engineering depends on its scientific theory]. Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 33, 85–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kay, J. (1999). Money from knowledge. Science and Public Affairs, April, 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. (2002). On science at the crossroads. Daedalus, 131, 122–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. (2005). Bayh-Dole: Almost 25. Science, 307, 1375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kevles, D. J. (2001). Patenting life: A historical overview of law, interests, and ethics. Paper presented to the Legal Theory Workshop, Yale University, December 20, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitch, E. W. (1980). The law and the economics of rights in valuable information. Journal of Legal Studies, 9, 683–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koo, B.-Y. (1982). New forms of foreign direct investment in Korea. Korean Development Institute (Working Paper No. 82–02).

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, M., & Fairhead, J. (2002). ‘Manners of contestation’: ‘Citizen science’ and ‘indigenous knowledge’ in West Africa and the Caribbean. International Social Science Journal, 59, 299–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, D. N. (2003). Putting science in its place: Geographies of scientific knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luckmann, T. (1982). Individual action and social knowledge. In M. von Cranach & R. Harré (Eds.), The analysis of action: Recent theoretical and empirical advances (pp. 247–265). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neurath, O. (1991). Schriften. Band 3: Gesammelte bildpädagogische Schriften. Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M., Jr. (1996). Big bills left on the sidewalk: Why some nations are rich, and others are poor. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10, 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Mara, M. P. (2005). Cities of knowledge: Cold war science and the search for the next Silicon Valley. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, T., & Rose, N. (1999). Do the social sciences create phenomena? The example of public opinion research. British Journal of Sociology, 50, 367–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pigou, A. C. (1924). The economics of welfare. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinch & Bijker. (1984). The social construction of facts and artefacts: Or how the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other. Social Studies of Science, 14, 399–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plant, A. (1934a). The economic aspects of copyright in books. Economica, 1, 167–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plant, A. (1934b). The economic theory concerning patents for inventions. Economica, 1, 30–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pottage, A. (1998). The inscription of life in law: Genes, patents, and bio-politics. The Modern Law Review, 61, 740–765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radhakrishnan, S. (2007). Rethinking knowledge for development: Transnational knowledge professionals and the ‘new’ India. Theory and Society, 36, 141–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (1976). The wealth of nations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1776)

    Google Scholar 

  • Stehr, N. (1991). Praktische Erkenntnis [Practical knowledge]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stehr, N. (2003). Wissenspolitik Die Überwachung des Wissens [Knowledge Politics: Policing knowledge]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stehr, N. (Ed.) (2004). The governance of knowledge. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E. (1999). Knowledge as a global public good. In I. Kaul, I. Grunberg, & M. A. Stern (Eds.), Global public goods (pp. 308–325). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E. (2007). Making globalization work: The next steps to global justice. London: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swidler, A. (1986). Culture as action: Symbols and strategies. American Sociological Review, 51, 273–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, H. G. (1931). The work, wealth and happiness of mankind (Vol. 1). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (1998). Indigenous knowledge for development. Initiative led by the World Bank in partnership with CIRAN/NUFFIC, CISDA, ECA, IDRC, SANGONet, UNDP, UNESCO, WHO, WIPO. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.worldbank.org/html/aft/IK

  • World Bank. (1999). Knowledge for development. World Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization. (2004). A fair globalization: Creating opportunities for all. Geneva: International Labour Office.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karl Mannheim Chair for Cultural Studies, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, D-88045, Germany

    Nico Stehr (Prof. Dr.)

Authors
  1. Nico Stehr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nico Stehr .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Geographie, Universität Heidelberg, Berliner Str. 48, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Peter Meusburger

  2. School of Geography, Archaeology &, Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom

    David Livingstone

  3. Dept. Geography, Loughborough University, East Park, Loughborough, Leics., LE11 3TU, United Kingdom

    Heike Jöns

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Stehr, N. (2010). Global Knowledge?. In: Meusburger, P., Livingstone, D., Jöns, H. (eds) Geographies of Science. Knowledge and Space, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8611-2_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation