Introduction

A social construct is always created at the centre of any communication framework. Science communication is no different in this regard, despite its goals and the evidence-based scientific facts it presents. Like any other kind of communication, science communicators inevitably create a frame and pursue an agenda. The creation of a frame falls within the realm of normative action and normativity. In our dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster we can read that normal is defined as conforming to a pre-existing standard, ‘a type, standard, or regular pattern: characterised by that which is considered usual, typical, or routine’ (Merriam-Webster, 2021). The general understanding is that the norm is the usual or common, while normal is opposed to abnormal. In contrast to these two terms, normative refers to a morally approved ideal, or ‘what ought to be’ from an ethical point of view.

From a philosophical perspective, normative ethics analyse how people should act, while descriptive ethics analyse what people think is right. The problems of science communication do not lie in descriptive ethics: there is a clear consensus on the ethical problem of Eurocentric hegemony and its consequences. Science communicators are well aware of normative aspects as long as they are related to the disciplines they communicate about. These understandings beg the following questions: what role does our own normative frame play when it comes to decolonising our field? If it does have a role, then why is it poorly addressed? Does science communication have a blind spot when it comes to its own normality, norms, and normativity? This chapter seeks to explore some possible reasons for this blind spot in science communication in relation to the normative ethics of decolonisation. If these epistemic norms are grounded in the colonial purpose of domination and hegemony, demonstrating and elaborating some of their impact on non-Western populations could help identify the problematic influence of unchallenged norms.

Postcolonial literature has defined the causes of this historically unchallenged state of normativity in the Western world. In this chapter, practical case studies from the scholarly communication of museums, and other areas of communication such as popular culture within the same framing analysis, will illustrate how systematic and widespread the problem is. The work of Gloria Wekker (2016) will be used to demonstrate how unquestioned colonial norms have created a sense of innocence that limits the possibilities of challenging said norms.