Science communication in the wild

Abstract

This essay argues for the need to understand and study science communication ‘in the wild’ – as a set of practices that are not only ‘organised, explicit, and intended actions that aim to communicate scientific knowledge’, but that take on a variety of other meanings as they are realised in particular contexts. I make this point by building on my experiences of studying science communication projects and by reflecting on their internal heterogeneity in terms of what they were ‘about’ for those organising them. By showing this diversity in the meanings of science communication to those carrying it out, and in particular how this is exacerbated by the conditions of precarity and scarcity that frequently frame science communication activities, I argue for the importance of understanding science communication practice as not only being ‘about’ the communication or negotiation of scientific knowledge, but myriad other aspects, from personal prestige to the need for a job.