Paper short abstract:

The thesis that research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary is widely accepted. This paper interrogates this thesis and seeks to understand interdisciplinarity as a contemporary problem, and as a political event.

Paper long abstract:

The thesis that research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary is widely accepted. This paper interrogates this thesis on three grounds. First, drawing on the results of an on-going study of interdisciplinary research institutions, the paper addresses the question of whether there is any unity to the phenomenon of interdisciplinarity, given the heterogeneity of interdisciplinary forms and the variety of ways in which 'society' is addressed through interdisciplinary collaborations. Secondly, the paper raises the question of to what extent research was not interdisciplinary in the past, and discusses some of the historical origins of recent interdisciplinary interventions. Thirdly, through a discussion of research policy in the UK, the paper examines a number of ways in which relations between disciplines have become more restricted, or channelled in specific directions. The thesis that interdisciplinarity is straightforwardly increasing is questionable, yet the topic of interdisciplinarity has become critical to public debates concerning the changing location and organisation of knowledge production. The paper seeks to understand interdisciplinarity as a contemporary problem, and as a political event.