Knowledge Monopolies

Historians and sociologists chart the consequences of the expansion of knowledge; philosophers of science examine the causes. This book bridges the gap. The focus is on 'academisation' - the paradox whereby, as the general public becomes better educated to live and work with knowledge, the 'academy' increases its intellectual distance from the public, so that the nature of social and natural reality becomes more rather than less obscure.

Keywords: History, sociology, philosophy, academisation, education, knowledge, academia, society, higher education, university, public, elitism, elite, academic social science, commodified knowledge, open society