Abstract

SANCHEZ VAZQUEZ, María Alejandra. The Communication of Science in Mexico: Seminal Studies and Future Paths. Nueva antropol [online]. 2008, vol.21, n.68, pp.89-111. ISSN 0185-0636.

This article provides an overview of research studies on outreach efforts regarding science. The review departs from the social construction still favored by many scientists and communicators that considers the scientist as the source of pertinent and universally accepted knowledge and the lay public as the ignorant end that needs to be enlightened by scientific knowledge. The article describes the complexities involved in the communication of knowledge, and implies that it should be studied in a situated manner. It also stresses the social utility of knowledge as the core issue for improving its communication and understanding. The studies under review are European and Anglo-Saxon in origin and hence can't be applied to other social contexts; still, they show the way that similar studies could follow in the study of the communication of science in Mexico. It also suggests that this field of research can be useful in the creation of outreach products for the sciences.

Keywords : science communication; Mexico; communication models; knowledge.

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