Interdisciplinarity in International Relations

Introduction

• The study of international relations (IR) is interdisciplinary in three ways: multidisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and neodisciplinarity.
• Interdisciplinarity highlights the broad and diverse character of IR and distinguishes it from international politics.

Interdisciplinary Scholarship in IR

• Examples include Susan Strange's work on international politics and economics, collaboration with international lawyers, historical sociologists' analyses, and studies of foreign policy decision-making.

The Under-Theorization of Interdisciplinarity

• There's been a lack of engagement with the theory and concept of interdisciplinarity in IR.
• Rise in awareness of interdisciplinarity, but also unease with the term, leading to neologisms.
• Scepticism exists regarding meta-theoretical discussions of disciplines and interdisciplinarity.
• Research into interdisciplinarity has focused on humanities and marginalized social sciences, barely affecting IR.

Importance of (Inter)disciplinarity

• (Inter)disciplinarity matters to knowledge production and academic organization because it is the premise upon which research is conducted.
• It influences standards, evaluation, and qualifications for scholars.
• Interdisciplinarity is sometimes used to deny disciplinary status or as a rationale for academic cooperation.
• Interdisciplinarity continues to be encouraged by universities and foundations to further innovative research.