On Interdisciplinary Research: with particular reference to the field of environment and development

Interdisciplinary research is fashionable, but also controversial; yet it is far from agreed what is meant by the term. This paper analyses some central issues concerning interdisciplinary research, both in general and with particular reference to the field of environment and development. It draws on earlier literature, especially Becher (1989) and on experience from universities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, U.S.A and Britain. The paper includes an analysis of how disciplines interact, focussing on economics, ecology and anthropology. It also addresses two ‘great divides’. The first is that between the ‘two cultures’: a gap which is indeed important, although it does not lie precisely between the natural sciences on the one hand and the social sciences and humanities on the other. The second is the gap between research and application; research that is usable by policy‐makers, it is argued, is typically, and necessarily, not of high quality judged in academic terms.