Page 59 - Sustainability Communication Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoritical Foundations

42 J. Godemann

Table 4.1 Comparison of typology and previous categorizations from Lattuca (2001: 114)
Informed disciplinarity Instrumental interdisciplinarity
Pseudo-interdisciplinarity
Cross-disciplinarity
Partial interdisciplinarity
Synthetic interdisciplinarity Instrumental or cross-disciplinarity
(motivated by an interdisciplinary question)
Multidisciplinarity
Partial interdisciplinarity
Conceptual interdisciplinarity
Transdisciplinarity Transdisciplinarity
Cross-disciplinarity
Conceptual interdisciplinarity (True) interdisciplinarity
Critical interdisciplinarity
Full interdisciplinarity

transdisciplinarity (mode 2) can offer fundamentally different answers to questions
of today’s complex society. Mode 2 characterises the production of knowledge in an
applied context, in which the interests of the societal, economic and political actors
who constitute the research process are taken into account. They are involved from
the beginning and contribute different types of competence and expertise in the
research process (Gibbons et al. 1994).
A hierarchy should not be imposed on the terms disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity
and transdisciplinarity. To do so would make little sense, for the organisation of a
research process does not necessarily have to be transdisciplinary to be evaluated as
‘good’ or ‘bad’. In other words, transdisciplinary research should not to be held in
higher regard simply because it is transdisciplinary. Rather, the quality of the
research depends on the extent to which the problem at hand is being dealt with in
an appropriate manner. Disciplinarity and inter- or transdisciplinarity “are plausible
valuations with respect to the operation of the research process in spite of their
apparent contradiction, and both are crucially important. They are complementary
rather than contradictory” (Weingart 2000: 29). Disciplinarity and inter- or transdis-
ciplinarity are co-dependent and the knowledge as well as the quality of integration
of knowledge and the broadening of perspectives are related to the distinctiveness
of disciplinary boundaries.

Understanding Between Disciplines

After analysing the meaning of the two terms, the focus should be directed to the
possibility of understanding between disciplines. This raises two major questions:
1. Questions about the concept of disciplines and the categorization of sciences, in
particular questions of methodology and classification, the classification and
delimitation of scientific disciplines. Disciplines create a framework of reference