What is Interdisciplinarity in Practice? Critical Reflections on Doing Mobility Research in an Intended Interdisciplinary Doctoral Research Group

Dominic Villeneuve, David Durán-Rodas, Anthony Ferri, Tobias Kuttler, Julie Magelund, Michael Mögele, Luca Nitschke, Eriketti Servou and Cat Silva
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Dominic Villeneuve: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
David Durán-Rodas: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Anthony Ferri: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Tobias Kuttler: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Julie Magelund: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Michael Mögele: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Luca Nitschke: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Eriketti Servou: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Cat Silva: Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Lately, there has been a tendency in academia to call for more interdisciplinary research on sustainable mobility. However, there is a lack of empirical research on practiced interdisciplinarity. This paper seeks to address this by exploring the practices of an intended interdisciplinary doctoral research group. Specifically, it presents the study of a collaborative autoethnography using individual vignettes and qualitative data analysis. The results classify the identified interdisciplinary practices into three main categories: Interactions, productive processes, and negotiation processes, where interactions serve as a carrier for negotiation and productive processes. This also uncovers advantages and challenges associated with these interactions. Furthermore, the analysis reveals intersubjectivity as an important component of the infrastructure of interdisciplinarity involved in both processes. Finally, we call for a reevaluation of the hierarchical thinking about the different levels of interdisciplinarity, going from disciplinary to multidisciplinary to interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary research. We conclude that for interdisciplinarity to happen in practice, it requires having a combination of various disciplines, ontologies, and a common “wicked” problem to solve. We also find that developing an interdisciplinary research environment requires researchers to embark on a shared journey of reaching a higher level of intersubjectivity through continuous interactions and discussions, while also negotiating conflicts.

Keywords: research practice; interdisciplinary practice; intended interdisciplinarity; reflexive methods; doctoral research; sustainable mobility; interdisciplinary research; intersubjectivity in research; autoethnographic vignettes; collaborative autoethnography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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