Sociological theory and the knowledge society

Globalisation and its knowledge society are bringing about a major change in the entire social system and this, in turn, is creating several discontinuities in the social order in many parts of the world. In some countries, the traditional economy has been thrown out of equilibrium, in some others the political system has been destabilised and in all countries the existing social order based mostly on conformity has been dislocated or de-railed. This paper examines the prospect of sociological theory in the wake of Information Technology (IT) and Knowledge Revolution (KR) that are overtaking societies the world over and that are changing many of the traditional values and norms of behaviour of individuals and organisations in society. It tries to habilitate sociology and its theoretical underpinnings in the matrix of the Knowledge Society built on Information Technology.