Transdisciplinarity as the axis of knowledge production

Abstract

Interdisciplinarity in academia should not be understood only as a politically correct stance that calls for mere inclusion or conversation between different fields of study. Hence, instead of speaking of "interdisciplinarity", it is preferable to speak of "transdisciplinarity". The change in the use of the prefix is not gratuitous. It is semantic, and therefore also pragmatic. That is to say, the change in the prefix in this case influences not only the meaning but also what is done with the words, as John L. Austin puts it. If one speaks of "transdisciplinarity" instead of "interdisciplinarity", one recognises that one is seeking to go beyond interdisciplinary dialogue. One is recognising, in the end, that the transdisciplinary cuts across knowledge construction. That it is imperative to understand what other disciplines intend to transmit to a given field of knowledge in order to construct a holistic discourse that aims, ultimately, to contribute to the epistemological strengthening of a discipline or field of study.