Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
HEIndividual fellowship2023–2025

HYB-KNOW · Hybrid Knowledge Society

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-09-15 → 2025-09-14
EU contribution
€188,590
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Hybrid Knowledge Society

The concept of the knowledge society emerged in the second half of the twentieth century in sociological and economic scholarship. According to the standard interpretation, the knowledge society refers to several significant changes in the structure of the industrial society: the rising prominence of scientific and higher education institutions in economic production and governance, the increasing intersections between the public and private sectors in the generation of knowledge, the expanding use of technology in society from automation to the digital infrastructure, and the growing significance of experts in public discourse. However, the standard interpretation is relatively narrow in the kinds of actors and processes it includes within its domain; for instance, knowledge is conceived in technocratic terms, while the definition of society follows the nature–culture separation with limited room for environmental concerns. Therefore, given the criticisms posed by Environmental Humanities and Anthropocene studies, which have called for a broader conception of knowledge and a stronger integration of social and natural dimensions in light of the contemporary environmental polycrisis, the HYB-KNOW project proposed to expand the historical and conceptual understanding of the knowledge society. More specifically, the project sought to situate the knowledge society concept within a broader examination of 20th-century developments by researching diverse social and economic sources along with environmentally oriented material. The objective was to elaborate an updated conception of the knowledge society, along with new fields of application.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Hybrid Knowledge Society (HYB-KNOW) is a two-year postdoctoral project situated at the intersection of philosophy, history, and cultural studies. The projects overarching purpose is to overhaul the concept of the knowledge society in light of pressing contemporary concerns, such as the existential risks associated with the Anthropocene and the hybrid demands of the 21st-century knowledge ecosystem.The knowledge society was supposed to have initiated a technology-driven, science-based, and expert-governed way of life, but recent developments indicate that massive technology corporations exert significant influence over the public sphere, scientific institutions are challenged by resurgent extremisms, and expert knowledge is devalued in favor of conspiracy discourse. Moreover, researchers have shown that anthropogenic activity has a significantly negative impact on the Earth system, with potentially devastating consequences for long-term human survival.In these highly complex circumstances, the development of effective solutions will largely depend on the integration of the diverse, multiple elements that comprise the global knowledge ecosystem. Therefore, by drawing on the methodology of political-historical epistemology to design an innovative research framework that combines conceptual research with historical case studies, I will construct the concept of the hybrid knowledge society geared to integrate a wide range of disciplines and actors while avoiding the twin risks of neopositivism and postmodern relativism.The HYB-KNOW project will open up new research avenues, address multiple existing research gaps, and generate change-oriented knowledge to facilitate inclusive knowledge-making practices. In addition, HYB-KNOW will provide me with an opportunity to boost my research profile, improve my scientific training, and consolidate my integration in international academic networks.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA · VeneziaCoordinatorItaly

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union