Silence is not empty, but full of answers and omnipresent in everyday social life: whether individual secrecy, situational looking away or systematically imposed silence - silence conveys messages and sends signals. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of silence tends to be researched along disciplinary traditions; a comparison and even a dialogue between the disciplines has been lacking to date. The contributors address this problem and emphasise an interdisciplinary approach to silence with sociological, political science and legal perspectives. This multidisciplinary approach enables them to analyse silence and uncover its ambiguities and normative implications.