Knowmad Society
The future belongs to nerds, geeks, makers, dreamers, and knowmads.
Work no longer fits the old script of fixed roles, fixed places, and fixed careers. Knowledge moves. Networks shift. People create value across boundaries that once seemed stable. In that context, the industrial logic that shaped schools and organizations starts to fail. It prepares people for compliance when the world now asks for creativity, initiative, collaboration, and judgment.
That shift is the starting point for Knowmad Society. The book examines what happens when knowledge work becomes mobile, distributed, and human-centered, and when learning can no longer be treated as preparation for a single lifelong job. It asks how education, work, and institutions must change when people are expected to design their own futures rather than inherit them.
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Knowmad Society brings together perspectives from scholars, entrepreneurs, and innovators across three continents to explore the future of learning, work, and human development. The book introduces the figure of the knowmad: a creative, adaptive, and networked knowledge worker who can contribute with almost anybody, anytime, and anywhere.
The volume connects that idea to a larger argument. If work has changed, then education must change too. Schools, universities, and organizations need to move beyond industrial models and create conditions for self-direction, co-creation, and new forms of value creation. This book maps that transition and examines what it may require of individuals, institutions, and societies.
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The digital edition is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.
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Kindle, Nook, and translations
Digital retail editions are also available for major reading platforms, and translated editions extend access to new audiences.
Book contents
Knowmad Society explores a set of connected questions about learning, work, and social organization in a world shaped by mobility, networks, and constant change.
Key themes include reframing learning and human development, identifying needed skills and competencies, rethinking schooling, flattening organizations, co-creating learning, and generating new forms of value in organizations and communities.
Across the volume, contributors examine what individuals, organizations, and nations may need to do to thrive in a knowmad society.
Contributors
This volume includes voices from academia, entrepreneurship, organizational innovation, and democratic education across three continents.
- John W. Moravec (editor, co-author, USA): Founder of Education Futures. His work focuses on building positive futures for human systems in an age of complexity and ambiguity.
- Thieu Besselink (co-author, Netherlands): Founder of The Learning Lab, focused on social change, learning innovation, and entrepreneurship.
- Edwin de Bree (co-author, Netherlands): Organizational innovator and co-founder of Entrepreneurial Organizations and the De Koers Sudbury-type school.
- Cristóbal Cobo (co-author, Chile): Researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, focused on innovation, open educational practices, and the future of the Internet.
- Christel Hartkamp-Bakker (co-author, Netherlands): Co-founder of democratic learning initiatives including De Kampanje and Newschool.nu.
- Ronald van den Hoff (co-author, Netherlands): Co-owner of CDEF Holding BV and contributor to innovative models including Seats2meet.com and Mindz.com.
- Christine Renaud (co-author, Canada): Social entrepreneur and CEO of E-180, focused on self-directed and community-based learning.
- Pieter Spinder (co-author, Netherlands): Founder of Knowmads Business School Amsterdam, centered on purpose, creativity, and entrepreneurial behavior.
- Bianca Stokman (co-author, Netherlands): Trainer and coach at Messing & Groef, with a background in organizational psychology and leadership development.
- Gary Hart (afterword contributor, USA): Former U.S. Senator, teacher, author, lecturer, and strategic advisor in international law and business.
- Martine Eyzenga (layout and design, Netherlands): Graphic artist and information designer whose work supports multiple social innovation platforms.
- Symen Veenstra (cover illustrator, Netherlands): Amsterdam-based visual artist focused on illustration, typography, and portraiture.
FAQ
Can I share the PDF?
Yes. Knowmad Society is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may share and remix it under the terms of that license.
How should I cite the book?
Digital edition:
Moravec, J. W. (Ed.). (2013). Knowmad Society. Education Futures LLC. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18745314
Print edition:
Moravec, J. W. (Ed.). (2013). Knowmad Society. Education Futures LLC. ISBN: 9780615742090
Are there translated editions?
Yes. The book is available in German, and a Russian PDF is also available from this site.
Where can I get the digital edition?
You can get the eBook through our store with pay-what-you-want pricing.
Where can I buy the print edition?
The paperback is available through Amazon and other booksellers.