Abstract

Sadly, the humanities’ de facto stance towards ‘the knowledge economy’ is often hostile and/or dismissive. Instead we argue that only by understanding and engaging with ‘the knowledge economy’ will the humanities be revitalised. Our starting premise is that there are four fundamental and pivotal features of 21st century knowledge economies with which the humanities must come to terms. These are: • The imperative to innovate continually; • The centrality of networks – both as a material and conceptual organising axis; • The centrality of trans-disciplinary knowledge; • The economic significance of culture. We argue that the most important new direction for the humanities is to fully engage with the knowledge economy by being involved with these aspects of its operation. This engagement needs to be applied in the first instance and critical in the second instance, because critique can only be informed when it interpenetrates the phenomenon to be critiqued.