<P> Earlier theories (Max Scheler, Karl Mannheim, Werner Stark, Karl Marx, Max Weber, etc .) often focused too much on scientific and theoretical knowledge, but this is only a small part of social knowledge, concerning a very limited group . Customs, common interpretations, institutions, shared routines, habitualizations, the who - is - who and who - does - what in social processes and the division of labor, constitute a much larger part of knowledge in society . </P> <P> "...theoretical knowledge is only a small and by no means the most important part of what passed for knowledge in a society...the primary knowledge about the institutional order is knowledge...is the sum total of' what everybody knows' about a social world, an assemblage of maxims, morals, proverbial nuggets of wisdom, values and beliefs, myths, and so forth" (p. 65) </P> <P> The general body of knowledge is socially distributed, and classified in semantic fields . The dynamic distribution and inter dependencies of these knowledge sectors provide structure to the social stock of knowledge: </P> <P> "The social stock of knowledge differentiates reality by degrees of familiarity...my knowledge of my own occupation and its world is very rich and specific, while I have only very sketchy knowledge of the occupational worlds of others" (p. 43) "The social distribution of knowledge thus begins with the simple fact that I do not know everything known to my fellowmen, and vice versa, and culminates in exceedingly complex and esoteric systems of expertise . Knowledge of how the socially available stock of knowledge is distributed, at least in outline, is an important element of that same stock of knowledge ." (p. 46) </P>

The social construction of reality. a treatise in the sociology of knowledge