Anahtar Kelimeler: Saint-Simon, sanayi, ağ, akışlar, organizma, organizasyon, bilgi toplumu, ağ toplumu.
Saint-Simon and “Knowledge Society”: A critique of a contemporary concept from historical perspective Abstract: Given the impact of information/knowledge flows in global telecommunication networks on the globalized and intensified economic and social activities, contemporary societies are qualified with concepts such as “knowledge society”, “information society”, “network society”. The historical uniqueness of our societies and a rupture in social level are being emphasized with an evolutionist approach. The purpose of this presentation is to criticize, on conceptual level, these concepts claiming a new kind of society by demonstrating nearly 200 years old history of the conceptualization and the analysis of the society in which economic and social activities, by means of communication/transportation networks, are conducted on global scale. To do so, Saint-Simon’s approach will be explored. The main constraint of the presentation is the fact that knowledge on Saint-Simon is gathered not from his writings but from secondary sources.
