Forms of Knowledge: Developing the History of Knowledge

The history of knowledge is a dynamic field of research with bright prospects. In recent years it has been established as an exciting, forward-looking field internationally, with a strong presence in the Nordic countries.

Forms of Knowledge is the first publication by the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge (LUCK). The volume brings together some twenty historians from different scholarly traditions to develop the history of knowledge. The knowledge under scrutiny here is the sort which people have regarded and valued as knowledge in various historical settings. The authors apply different perspectives to this knowledge, maintaining the historicity and situatedness of the production and circulation of knowledge.

The book presents the history of knowledge in all its rich diversity. The role of knowledge in public life is the focus of some chapters, while others concentrate on the importance of knowledge for individuals or local communities; some chart the realities of academic or systematic knowledge, others consider its existential or mundane dimensions. Taken together, they make a significant contribution to the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological advances in the field.