Atlas of knowledges : in pursuit of the new knowledge
Fanie De Beer · Mousaion South African Journal of Information Studies · 2001
When Michel Serres (1989a:177) writes: 'Let the new knowledge come', it was almost like a prayer. It sounds like a great expectation on the one hand, and like a sigh of discontent with regard to its opposite, let us call it 'old knowledge', on the other hand. Is this really the case? Are we operating with old knowledge, inappropriate knowledge and inadequate knowledge? Is the hope for new knowledge a realistic hope, a futile exercise, or already a reality? Too many scientific discourses suggest the last option as really the case. What are the limitations of the old knowledge and the possibilities of the new knowledge? Under what theoretical and methodological conditions can we expect knowledge, old or new, to emerge? It is fairly clear that they require different conditions, different in terms of assumptions, methods, and mode of thinking.