Intellectual entrepreneurs and the diffusion of ideas : Two historical cases of knowledge flow

Journal article


Qi, Xiaoying. (2013). Intellectual entrepreneurs and the diffusion of ideas : Two historical cases of knowledge flow. American Journal of Cultural Sociology. 1(3), pp. 346-372. https://doi.org/10.1057/ajcs.2013.5
AuthorsQi, Xiaoying
Abstract

This article argues that the diffusion of concepts and theories from one culture or society to another requires the active engagement of a category of agents which I identify as ‘intellectual entrepreneurs’. Two historically contrasting cases of the transmission of ideas are examined in order to explain the processes whereby alien concepts are diffused across cultures. Foreign ideas and concepts that are successfully assimilated into a culture are neither automatically accepted nor externally imposed. Rather, knowledge flow succeeds on the basis of selection and transformation by local intellectual entrepreneurs who at the same time transform the receiving context to accommodate the modified foreign ideas. The activities of individuals, as intellectual entrepreneurs, are identified and discussed in order to indicate the processes through which alien concepts and theories are diffused into a receiving culture.

Keywordsintellectual entrepreneur; diffusion; Schumpeter; Buddhism; China
Year2013
JournalAmerican Journal of Cultural Sociology
Journal citation1 (3), pp. 346-372
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
ISSN2049-7113
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1057/ajcs.2013.5
Scopus EID2-s2.0-84962206372
Open accessPublished as green open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range346-372
Research GroupSchool of Arts
Author's accepted manuscript
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Open
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This record includes a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in American Journal of Cultural Sociology. The final authenticated version is available online at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ajcs.2013.5] http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ajcs.2013.5

Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
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