Interdisciplinary Practice as Reflexivity

This article considers ways in which interdisciplinarity may be practiced. The suggestion is that interdisciplinarity as a practice can be understood as embracing a reflexive orientation on the part of inquirers. It is this orientation which enables them to entertain possibilities for taking on board ideas/interpretations exceeding the boundary of some “source discipline.” It is part of the responsibility of inquirers to consider whether single discipline-based research might be unduly restrictive in its way of seeing issues of concern and hence of constructing options for action. Interdisciplinary processes imply that effort is expended to create fresh opportunities for understanding-and-action through working with the juxtaposition and interplay of different vantage points on inquiry. Possibilities for discursive accountability on the part of all concerned are hereby extended. It is also suggested that calls for more interdisciplinary inquiries are part of a larger project toward the increased democratization of discussion about research practices in society. Discussions about the value and validity of interdisciplinary inquiries may be seen as linked up with the pursuance of such democratisation.

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