The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies recently published the latest book by noted Moroccan thinker Kamal Abdellatif. "Knowledge, Ideology, Networks: Intersections and Wagers" focuses on the relationships among knowledge, ideology, and the networked society, and examines the new concepts emerging to dominate the field of ideas on a global scale. The book, Dr. Abdellatif's nineteenth, is an exploration of the significance of concepts, especially in terms of the manners in which they are used, whether in philosophy, politics, or the social sciences. The author notes that each of the main concepts treated in this book (i.e. knowledge, ideology, and networks) summons other concepts that endow it with meaning. The term "networks", for instance, conjures notions of "technology", "the economy", and "society"; and, in the midst of these associations, the notion of the "virtual" rises in contrast with "the real".

Dr. Abdellatif also discusses the relationship between knowledge and power, as well as that between ideology and knowledge. These connections, the author argues, form the center of gravity of the new society where knowledge regulates the entire societal structure. In this regard, the following themes are discussed: the knowledge society and the questions of identity and globalization; "Knowledge Capitalism" as the pillar of the globalized economy; the knowledge society and the Arab woman; the Arabic language in the face of the challenges of reform; the knowledge society and ethical values; the knowledge society and political participation. In addition, the book contains an extensive study of ideology and its links to reality, science, utopia, eschatology, and the networked society.

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