Introduction

Chapter One introduces the context and argument of this book. I discuss why it is important to think about the various practices that mediate between science and society from a sociological perspective, with social justice as a guiding concern. I argue that everyday science learning is exclusive, inequitable and that change is long overdue. I discuss the qualitative research project this book is based on. I describe the research setting, the ethnographic approach and the 59 participants (people from an Asian group, a Somali group, an Afro-Caribbean group, a Sierra Leonean group and a Latin American group). I then outline the key terms and concepts used throughout the book. The final part of Chapter One maps out the content of the subsequent seven chapters.