Scientific meetings: from the reputational pyramid to the persuasion cycles

The paper addresses the topic of scientific meetings. It argues that scientific meetings are a communication strategy that affects the scientific community socially, spatially, and cognitively. The text employs sociological theories as a way of analyzing scientific events. For this, is based on bibliographic and historical research. It is divided in five sections: i. an introduction on the sociological approach on scientific meetings; ii. an account on the rise and development of scientific meetings; iii. a critical review on the Normative Program sociological approach of scientific activities; iv. a critical review on the Discursive Program of scientific meetings; v. a conclusion section, with elements for a sociological approach of scientific meetings. The paper concludes that scientific meetings are spaces that reflect the stratification within the scientific community, but also as persuasion arenas mobilized for knowledge construction.

Keywords:
Scientific meetings; Scientific communication; Scientific community; Hierarchy; Sociolo­gy of science