Introduction

Abstract

This issue of Laboratorium was not originally planned as a thematic one, but the manuscripts it includes dovetail with each other so well that they almost constitute a special issue on the sociology of knowledge and more specifically the sociology of the social sciences and humanities. Two articles and a review essay examine, respectively, the organization of the disciplinary fields of economics, sociology, and history, focusing in particular on how knowledge in these disciplines is manufactured and disseminated. The third article is about the intelligentsia, a group that is at least partially responsible for the production of knowledge, particularly humanistic knowledge about society. Some of the same themes also appear in the book reviews section, including the spirited discussion of an edited volume on gender practices and identities.