ABSTRACT
The knowledgeability enhances the potential of the reflexive capability of actors to engage in market activities that optimize their welfare and that of other actors, particularly in terms of decisions that transcend narrow welfare concerns in purely utilitarian terms. The chapter proposes both theoretical approaches to the societal role of knowledge, and then turn to an alternative perspective conceptualizing knowledgeability, rather than knowledge, as a major force in the transformation of modern markets. The chapter further focuses on Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital, since it resonates, at least on the surface, more closely with the concept of knowledge and knowledgeability. The Bourdieu retains a strong reference for the objective, inescapable presence and constraint of the social, economic, and political presence of social class in modern society. The conscience collective in knowledge societies is at variance with the belief systems and mental sets that are usually identified as uniquely modern, and therefore warrant the designation of a new structure of consciousness.
