From the margins to the mainstream: deconstructing science communication as a white, Western paradigm

• Published in: Journal of Science Communication
• Main Authors: Finlay, Summer M., Raman, Sujatha, Rasekoala, Elizabeth, Mignan, Vanessa, Dawson, Emily, Neeley, Liz, Orthia, Lindy A.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Research Online 2021
• Subjects: Public engagement with science and technology; Science communication:theory and models; Social inclusion; First Nations
• Online Access: https://ro.uow.edu.au/test2021/1154; https://doi.org/10.22323/2.20010302

In this commentary we are concerned with what mainstream science communication has neglected through cultural narrowness and ambient racism: other practitioners, missing audiences, unvalued knowledge, unrecognised practices. We explore examples from First Nations Peoples in the lands now known as Australia, from Griots in West Africa and from People’s Science Movements in India to help us reimagine science communication. To develop meaningfully inclusive approaches to science communication, we argue there is an urgent need for the ‘mainstream’ to recognise, value and learn from science communication practices that are all too often seen as at ‘the margins’ of this field.