Problems of science popularization exemplified by modern Russian practice

Abstract

Science popularization is a specific public activity of scientists, the purpose of which is education and self-realization. The article emphasizes the fact that this activity is self-organized in Russia, and the key role in its development is played by technical and technological improvement and the Internet. Media development contributes to the uncontrollable spread of pseudoscientific and unscientific theories as well as their criticism. The study is focused on the showization of science, which is presented to the public in the form of spectacle and entertainment. The forms of popularization of science in sociocultural practice begin to fulfill the function of intellectual leisure for the public. Popularization in the context of media development enables scientific knowledge to become public knowledge by means of publishing popular science literature, organizing online and offline lecture halls, web portals with scientific and educational content, which is evidence of the democratization of science in general and the activities of the scientist in particular. The activities of popularizers in modern Russia are consolidating, traditions are being developed, shaped by stable rituals, and recognizable authoritative “stars” are appearing. Thus, the popularization of science seems to be an ambiguous phenomenon of modern Russian culture, which reveals the features of a centralizing sociocultural institution.