Relations between science and culture: 20 years of the Spiral of Scientific Culture

Abstract

The interaction between different social actors who produce and consume scientific information, encode and decode these languages to make communication effective, in addition to the specificities of these relationships, are represented in the Spiral of Scientific Culture, a science communication model that linguist Carlos Vogt developed 20 years ago. Rethinking the spiral from the emergence of Covid-19, a new respiratory disease causing a global public health crisis, makes us think about the relevance of the circulation of scientific information in the public sphere, and also about the way knowledge has been appropriated and has been continuously developed between science and society. Vogt has been working for three decades promoting science communication in Brazil. At his 80th birthday, celebrated in February this year, he has been tireless to work on ambitious and pioneering projects aimed at expanding public access to scientific knowledge. In this interview, Vogt takes up the concept of the Spiral of Scientific Culture in light of the new connections established between science and society within the pandemic landscape, when there was an expansion of public access to scientific information.