Written Communication Jul 2024 Open Access

The Discursive Boundary Work of Recontextualizing Science for Policy: Opening the Black Box of an Organization’s Genre System and Intermediary Genre Sets

Matthew Falconer Carleton University

Abstract

Governments the world over require scientific knowledge to inform policy makers’ decision-making processes. The recontextualization of this information for nonscientific audiences has received much attention, though it has primarily focused on publicly available texts. Little is known about the discursive nature of how science is transformed and repurposed and the confidential writing performed by boundary organizations that are working between science and policy. This ethnographic study explores the collaborative discursive activity involved in efforts by a boundary organization—the Council of Canadian Academies—to recontextualize science for policy makers. The analysis opens the discursive black box of the genre system and intermediary genre sets involved in one project, which led to the publication and distribution of the boundary object of an advisory report, Older Canadians on the Move. I claim that the discursive boundary work involves a complex genre system containing several sequential genred activities through which science is transformed and a boundary object created.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2024-07-01
DOI
10.1177/07410883241242106
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (57) · 11 in this index

  1. 10.4135/9781412984973
     ↗
  2. 10.1353/book4677
     ↗
  3. Bazerman C. (1988)
    Shaping written language: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science
  4. Bazerman C. (1994)
    Genre and the new rhetoric
  5. 10.1515/9788395720499
     ↗
Show all 57 →
  1. Bazerman et al. (2003)
    The Production of Information for Genred Activity Spaces: Informational Motives…
    Written Communication
  2. Bray (2019)
    How Do Online News Genres Take Up Knowledge Claims From a Scientific Research A…
    Written Communication
  3. 10.1007/s11024-017-9331-3
     ↗
  4. Cooke (2021)
    Genre Uptake as Boundary-Work: Reasoning About Uptake in Wikipedia Articles
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Council of Canadian Academies (2017)
    Older Canadians on the move
  6. Council of Canadian Academies. (2023a). Annual report 2022-2023. https://cca-reports.ca/corporate-publications/
  7. Council of Canadian Academies. (2023b). About us. https://www.cca-reports.ca/about/
  8. Devitt A. (1991)
    Textual dynamics of the professions
  9. 10.37514/INT-B.2021.1343.2.06
     ↗
  10. 10.7330/9781607324430.c003
     ↗
  11. Fahnestock (2004)
    Preserving the Figure: Consistency in the Presentation of Scientific Arguments
    Written Communication
  12. Falconer M. (2019). Providing science advice: An ethnography of the Council of Canadian Academies’ boundary w…
  13. Falconer M. (2023). Transforming data on the boundaries of science and policy: The Council of Canadian Academ…
     ↗
  14. 10.1007/s11024-010-9152-0
     ↗
  15. Freadman A. (2002)
    The rhetoric and ideology of genre
  16. 10.2307/2095325
     ↗
  17. Giltrow J. (2002)
    The rhetoric and ideology of genre: Strategies for stability and change
  18. 10.1038/507163a
     ↗
  19. 10.1177/016224390102600401
     ↗
  20. Hajer M. (2006)
    Words matter in policy and planning
  21. Hesse-Biber S. N. (2008)
    Handbook of emergent methods
  22. 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.07.009
     ↗
  23. Latour B. (1987)
    Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society
  24. 10.1177/0162243915577636
     ↗
  25. Lindeman (2013)
    Subjectivized Knowledge and Grassroots Advocacy: An Analysis of an Environmenta…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  26. 10.1515/text.1.1998.18.2.143
     ↗
  27. Luzón (2013)
    Public Communication of Science in Blogs: Recontextualizing Scientific Discours…
    Written Communication
  28. 10.1177/0306312707083665
     ↗
  29. Maxwell J. A. (2013)
    Qualitative research design: An interactive approach
  30. Maxwell J. A. (2008)
    Handbook of emergent methods
  31. McNely (2017)
    Moments and Metagenres: Coordinating Complex, Multigenre Narratives
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  32. 10.1080/00335638409383686
     ↗
  33. 10.1177/1461445603005002006
     ↗
  34. 10.1007/s42532-021-00097-0
     ↗
  35. 10.1075/pbns.308.09orp
     ↗
  36. Rachul (2019)
    Digesting Data: Tracing the Chromosomal Imprint of Scientific Evidence Through …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  37. Rapport N. (2012)
    The interview: An ethnographic approach
  38. 10.1515/text.1.1998.18.2.211
     ↗
  39. Saldaña J. (2016)
    The coding manual for qualitative researchers
  40. Sarangi S. (2001)
    Text
  41. Skinner J. (2012)
    The interview: An ethnographic approach
  42. Smart G. (2006)
    Writing the economy: Activity, genre and technology in the world of banking
  43. 10.1075/pbns.308.10sma
     ↗
  44. 10.1515/9788395720499
     ↗
  45. Star S. L. (2010)
    Science, Technology, & Human Values
  46. 10.1177/030631289019003001
     ↗
  47. 10.1075/pbns.41.06swa
     ↗
  48. Tachino (2012)
    Theorizing Uptake and Knowledge Mobilization: A Case for Intermediary Genre
    Written Communication
  49. Tardy (2003)
    A Genre System View of the Funding of Academic Research
    Written Communication
  50. 10.1093/scipol/scs114
     ↗
  51. 10.1002/2688-8319.12214
     ↗
  52. Wickman (2023)
    Genre and Metagenre in Biomedical Research Writing
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Mar 2018
    Negotiating Multilingual Quality in Component Content-Management Environments ↗
    Tatiana Batova
    rhetorical criticism genre theory collaborative writing technical communication qualitative research multilingual writers
  2. Communication Design Quarterly Nov 2013
    Networked knowledges: student collaborative digital composing as communicative action ↗
    Guiseppe Getto
    genre theory service learning collaborative writing professional writing qualitative research digital rhetoric multimodality
  3. College English Nov 2012
    Emerging Voices: Resituating Expertise: An Activity Theory Perspective on Representation in Critical Ethnography ↗
    Jerry Stinnett
    genre theory collaborative writing qualitative research
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2007
    Non-Rule Environmental Policy: A Case Study of a Foundry Sand Land Disposal NPD ↗
    Karen Griggs
    genre theory discourse analysis collaborative writing technical communication qualitative research
  5. Teaching English in the Two-Year College Sep 1999
    What Works for Me: Classroom Activities That Have Stood the Test of Time ↗
    genre theory collaborative writing qualitative research