This article discusses the role of language in the collaboration between science, policy, and society. Combining computational methods of corpus linguistics (manifold learning) with sociological field theories, we analyze approximately 30,000 articles that were published in the field of transdisciplinary sustainability studies. We show that the field oscillates between deliberative and technocratic vocabularies and can therefore be characterized as a transversal field. We conclude that researchers who collaborate in science–society interstices are thrown into a semantic pluralism that cannot be boiled down to a common language. For transdisciplinary research practice and corresponding science policies, this involves trade-offs between generating a homogenous language and a collaborative appeal; between creating a stable creole and a situated semantic plurality. A corresponding theoretical viewpoint and science policy approach should be based on a pluralist view on the science–society–policy interplay.

中文翻译：

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可持续性研究中的边界说话：横向领域的计算阅读

本文讨论了语言在科学、政策和社会合作中的作用。我们将语料库语言学（流形学习）的计算方法与社会学领域理论相结合，分析了在跨学科可持续性研究领域发表的大约 30,000 篇文章。我们表明，该领域在审议和技术词汇之间摇摆不定，因此可以被描述为一个横向领域。我们得出的结论是，在科学社会空隙中进行合作的研究人员被抛入了一种语义多元化，而这种多元主义不能归结为一种共同语言。对于跨学科研究实践和相应的科学政策，这涉及在产生同质语言和协作吸引力之间进行权衡；在创造一个稳定的克里奥尔语和一个定位的语义多元性之间。相应的理论观点和科学政策方法应该基于对科学-社会-政策相互作用的多元化观点。