This paper presents a discussion of the social functions of scientific knowledge andits forms of socialization in contemporary society. Scientific knowledge has alwaysbeen important for the structuring of societies, but it has progressively gained prominencein recent years. Drawing out Systemic Functional Linguistics in association withphilosophical and discursive perspectives of scientific popularization, scientific knowledgeand its representations are here inevitably related to political and economical ...
This paper presents a discussion of the social functions of scientific knowledge andits forms of socialization in contemporary society. Scientific knowledge has alwaysbeen important for the structuring of societies, but it has progressively gained prominencein recent years. Drawing out Systemic Functional Linguistics in association withphilosophical and discursive perspectives of scientific popularization, scientific knowledgeand its representations are here inevitably related to political and economical interests, socialcontexts and institutional and cultural circumstances. It is argued that science and its forms of appropriation and sharing are far from being socially neutral, influencingand being influenced by the relations established among the various groups of actors involvedin different ways in the structure of society. Scientific papers and news aboutscience are two different genres which construe different ways for knowledge circulationin society, articulating different representations of the social actors involved in theprocess of knowledge production and popularization.
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