Knowledge, Democracy and Power
Knowledge, Democracy and Power

Summary/Abstract: The theme that I explore in this paper concerns the multiple linkages between knowledge, power, civil society, governance, and societal democracy. The common assumption is that knowledgeability in modern societies is highly stratified and tends to exclude those from political participation who lack relevant cognitive skills and knowledge. I will argue that this is neither natural nor inevitable. I would like to place the general set of questions about relations between knowledge and democracy into the context of whether these linkages are co-determined by an enabling knowledgeability of modern actors, stressing thereby growing opportunities for reflexive cooperation in civil society organizations, social movements, and the increasing influence of growing segments of society on democratic regimes. My specific purpose has to be more modest. Access to and the command of knowledge, both of which are stratified, is at the core of my inquiry. I will explore three barriers and hurdles to access to knowledge and ask: (1) is it possible to reconcile expertise and civil society; (2)it conceivable to reconcile civil society and knowledge as a private good; (3) and finally, are the social sciences and the humanities a source for enabling knowledge?

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