SVERKER SORLIN is Professor in the Division of History of Science and Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. HEBE VESSURI is Head of the Department of Science Studies, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cient?ficas, Venezuela.

'Almost all countries aspire to become 'knowledge economies' or 'knowledge societies.' The terms are frequently used interchangeably by politicians. This book explains why the terms are quite different, and why this difference has profound implications for the future role of universities in all countries throughout the world. The issues raised are of fundamental importance and the chapters in this book contribute in a masterly way to the much needed debate on the role of knowledge in society' - Geoffrey Oldham CBE, Former Director, the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, and Chair of Trustees, the Science and Development Network

• The Democratic Deficit of Knowledge Economies; S.Sörlin & H.Vessuri Knowledge, Power and Politics: The Role of the Intellectual In An Age of Transition; I.Wallerstein Modes of Knowledge and Patterns of Power; M.Kogan Knowledge, Theory, and Tension Between Local and Universal Knowledge; R.F.Retamar Universities and Society: Whose Terms of Engagement?; M.Singh Knowledge Functions and the Role of the University; A.Arimoto Knowledge, Culture, and Politics: The Status of Women in the Arab World; F.Charaffeddine The Hybridization of Knowledge: Science and Local Knowledge in Support of Sustainable Development; H.Vessuri Knowledge, Globalization, and Hegemony: The Production of Knowledge in the 21st Century; P.T.Zeleza