ABSTRACT
This paper is based on the premise that modern societies are increasingly dependent on knowledge. They are characterized by the development and dissemination of knowledge. The term “knowledge society” has been coined to describe them (Drucker, 1968; Bell, 1973; Stehr, 2002). However, the term knowledge society does not necessarily imply that society in general (and politics in particular) is now, in contrast to previous eras, informed by more (exact) knowledge and therefore more “rational.” It rather denotes the fact that there are many competing forms of knowledge, e.g. scientific-technical knowledge, everyday knowledge, practical knowledge, traditional knowledge, local knowledge, and so on. When social and political controversies arise there is no overarching knowledge to which we could turn that would resolve them. We thus have to reckon with a diversity of discourses which do not necessarily share common assumptions and hence do not arrive at a common consensus (Dryzek, 1990; Pellizzoni, 2001). Examples of such controversies abound (e.g., biotechnology, nuclear energy, climate change).
