Sociology of Knowledge and Culture: Diversity or Change from the Classic to the ‘New’

There are discussions and debates recently surfacing that leads some readers with the impression that a ‘new sociology of knowledge’ has been formed which is not only different from the classic sociology of knowledge but is in contradiction to it. The present paper explains the major ideas and lines of thought in the course of sociology of knowledge along with the diversified interpretations and emphases - including those regarding culture. Then, the article outlines the historical chain of theoretical changes and developments in and around the sociology of knowledge which lead to the interpretations and emphases basic to the ‘new’ sociology of knowledge. It is shown, at the end, that these discussions were neither ignored nor isolated in the course of formation and development of sociology of knowledge.