Foundations of transdisciplinarity: a review of the literature

Sheila M. Cannon, Paul Coughlan and David Coghlan

Chapter 2 in How to Organise Transdisciplinary Research for Transformative Action and Knowledge Co-Production, 2026, pp 11-21 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In this chapter, we review the origins and roots of Transdisciplinary Research (TDR), which emerged in the middle of the 1900s as part of revolutionary change to how scientific knowledge was both produced and organised. This background provides a basis for understanding the scope and direction of TDR's modern iterations, and to lay the groundwork for the eight examples, which are included in Part II of this book. We examine recent TDR literature that has accelerated in response to the wicked problems as described in Chapter 1. We explore how TDR emerged organically from different areas of research and action: sustainability, international development, medical and veterinary sciences, and organisational studies. Management and organisation studies (MOS) plays a unique role in understanding and advancing TDR based upon its relevant knowledge on organising complex challenges, change processes, and insight on relationality in collective organising.

Keywords: History of Transdisciplinary Research; Scientific Revolution; Ontology; Epistemology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035346547
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