現代知識社會將教育提升到最高的地位,那些掌握了大量知識技能的人能夠在這一新的社會現實中獲得競爭優勢并脫穎而出。盡管這種普遍的分析已成為觀察家公認的真理,但對于知識和知識技能的實際含義仍然存在重大分歧,更不用說在現代社會中獲得成功需要多少知識以及何種知識。本文通過對"知識"一詞的一般概念以及這一概念所隱含的技能之特殊性質解決這些懸而未決的問題,將知識視為社會行動的能力,即行動力。這一理解具有重要意涵,最核心的觀點是知識永遠不會立即發揮作用,而是受到社會、政治和文化解釋過程的約束——它從來都不能自行確定。

Modern knowledge societies elevate education to the highest property.Those who command a surplus in knowledge skills will be able to reap competitive advantages and excel in the context of this new social reality.However,while this general analysis is now an accepted truth among observers,significant disagreement persists as to what is actually meant by knowledge and knowledge skills,let alone how much and which kind of knowledge is needed to succeed in modern societies.We address these open questions by deriving ageneral conception of what is to be understood by the term knowledge,and likewise,by the particular nature of skills the concept implies.We conceive knowledge as capacity for social action,that is as enabling abilities.This understanding holds important implications.Most central is the insight that knowledge is never immediately performative,but subject to social,political,and cultural interpretation processes—it is never autodeterministic.