Science Communication and Science in Society: A Conceptual Review in Ten Keywords

Abstract

Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communication is now an established field of graduate education, of empirical and applied studies and of theoretical reflection. The establishment of this field has been marked inter alia by the publication of dedicated journals, reference books and handbooks, and the organisation of regular international conferences and professional networks. The process reflects developments in science-society relations as expressed, for example, in notions of post-academic, post-normal, or mode-2 science, all of which posit the permeability of the previously conceived boundaries, leading to more communication between institutions and between the cultures of science and of institutions and the culture of the wider society. In this article we have selected ten terms that are frequently used in the public, professional and policy discussions about questions of science in society.