The Evolution of a Concept: From Knowledge Capitalism Through Knowledge Cultures to Knowledge Socialism

• In Event: Knowledge Socialism and the Rise of Peer Production: Collegiality, Collaboration, and Collective Intelligence

Abstract

The terms ‘knowledge economy’ and ‘knowledge capitalism’ have been used with increasing frequency since the 1990s as a way of describing the latest phase of capitalism in in the process of global restructuring. ‘Knowledge economy’ is often refered to as deep structural transformation of the economy caused by a technological revolution altering the production and transmission of knowledge (and information), leading to a shift to knowledge-intensive activities. Conceptually, this process of redefinition began with Peter Drucker (1959), Fritz Machlup, Daniel Bell and others who described nascent post-industrial tendencies towards increasing abstract, mathematical and symbolic processes that were part of an emerging and interlocking information technologies that constituted a new global algorithmic and data driven knowledge architecture. These features comprised the ‘economics of knowledge’ which lies in the base of knowledge capitalism (Peters and Jandrić, 2018).
Whereas knowledge capitalism focuses on the economics of knowledge, emphasizing human capital development, intellectual property regimes, and efficiency and profit maximization, knowledge socialism shifts emphasis towards recognition that knowledge and its value are ultimately rooted in social relations (Peters and Besley, 2006). Knowledge socialism promotes the sociality of knowledge by providing mechanisms for a truly free exchange of ideas. Unlike knowledge capitalism, which relies on exclusivity - and thus scarcity - to drive innovation, the socialist alternative recognizes that exclusivity can also greatly limit innovation possibilities (Peters, 2014). Hence rather than relying on the market to serve as a catalyst for knowledge creation, knowledge socialism marshals public and private financial and administrative resources to advance knowledge for the public good.
This paper explores the evolution of a concept: from knowledge capitalism through knowledge cultures to knowledge socialism.

References
Drucker, P. (1959). The landmarks of tomorrow. Melbourne: Heinemann.
Peters, M. A. & Jandrić, P. (2018). The Digital University: A Dialogue and Manifesto. New York: Peter Lang.
Peters, M. A. (2014). Openness and the Intellectual Commons, Open Review of Educational Research, 1:1, 1-7, DOI: 10.1080/23265507.2014.984975.
Peters, M. A., & Besley, T. (2006). Building knowledge cultures: Education and development in the age of knowledge capitalism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Author

• Michael A. Peters, Beijing Normal University