"Why Global Studies?"

Lecture #1: “Why Global Studies?: An Interdisciplinary Approach”
Per Knutsson, Human Ecology and Social Anthropology

What is global studies at Gothenburg University?
- It is a new program.
- It is a unique combination of social science disciplines
- It is a new and open field of knowledge for you to define.
- It is an international environment.
- It prioritizes research and education.

Global Studies as the integration of interdisciplinary disciplines
- Global Studies integrates: social anthropology, development studies, global gender studies, regional studies, human rights, human ecology, international relations

Two examples of the need for interdisciplinary global studies
- Genocide in Rwanda, most explanations of the Rwandan genocide focus on one discipline such as media, conflict resolution, history, etc.
- Global studies examines how different disciplines are linked and can explain social phenomena such as genocide
- Climate Change, there has been a strong natural science focus on climate change for years.
- Recently, social sciences are becoming involved.
- The increased involvement of social sciences is due to a growing awareness that climate change impacts both human systems and natural systems.

Defining interdisciplinarity
- Multidisciplinarity is the combination of disciplines without integration.
- Interdisciplinarity is the integration of disciplines through cooperation and discourse.
- Transdisciplinarity involves the integration of not only academic disciplines but social actors such as civil servants, business people, etc.

Different aspects of interdisciplinarity
- General knowledge, general knowledge/daily life are inherently interdisciplinary
- Research, this occurs when different disciplines tackle a common problem
- Education
- Application, this is an attempt to solve a problem
- Organization
- Identity, as an identity, interdisciplinarity, threatens disciplinarity
- Theory, there are very few interdisciplinarity theories

Different interdisciplinary ambitions
- Broadening, adding perspectives or ideas
- Reconfiguration, effecting change
- Synthesis, bringing things together concretely to create a solution

Why interdisciplinarity?
- There are two forms of knowledge production, accumulation and integration
- Accumulation, this is the traditional view of knowledge
- Integration, this is a complement to accumulation provided by interdisciplinarity
Common critiques against interdisciplinarity
- Lack of specialization
- Lack of in-depth knowledge
- Lack of theory
- Lack of methodology
- Lack of traditions
- Lack of quality criteria, how do you know if the research is valid?

The case for interdisciplinarity
- Creative breakthroughs
- Outside perspective
- Lessens cross disciplinary oversights
- Fills disciplinary cracks
- Addresses complex and/or practical problems
- Broadening of the definition of quality control

Transdisciplinary research: an answer to the shifting knowledge landscape
- The knowledge economy, knowledge is highly valuable
- The environmental imperative, transdisciplinary research leads to solutions
- Engaged populace, the ivory tower is crumbling

Is interdisciplinarity always good? No.
- Interdisciplinarity is a complement not a replacement for disciplinary research, education, etc.