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Title: Working with Interdisciplinarity in Knowledge Communities

Working with Interdisciplinarity in Knowledge Communities

by Kirsten Jæger (Volume editor) Karina Smed (Volume editor) Ana María Macías García (Volume editor)
©2026 Edited Collection 232 Pages
Science, Society & Culture
Series: Arbeit, Bildung und Gesellschaft / Labour, Education and Society, Volume 41

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Summary

This anthology pinpoints how interdisciplinarity can strengthen democratic knowledge communities. The authors show that interdisciplinarity is not only a methodological choice but also a political and cultural stance. It challenges entrenched hierarchies of expertise, creates space for alternative voices and fosters co-production of knowledge responsive to complex societal problems. The urgency of making interdisciplinary practices the norm rather than the exception is emphasised, and the book warns of what is at stake if these debates are ignored. Without deliberate efforts to integrate diverse perspectives, knowledge risks becoming either narrowly technocratic or so fragmented that it loses the capacity to inform collective decision-making. Both scenarios threaten the democratic promise of knowledge as a shared resource for society, and it is argued that legitimacy, access, and responsiveness are not optional add-ons but prerequisites for meaningful knowledge communities.

Details

Pages
232
Publication Year
2026
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631945995
Language
English
Keywords
Interdisciplinarity higher education research democracy PBL learning knowledge communities Ana María Macías García Kirsten Jaeger Karina M. Smed
Published
Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York, Oxford, 2026. 232 pp., 7 fig. b/w, 1 table.
Product Safety
Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

Kirsten Jæger (Volume editor) Karina Smed (Volume editor) Ana María Macías García (Volume editor)

Karina M. Smed is Associate Professor, PhD, at Aalborg University and a member of the Demos research group. Her work is focused on cultural and social changes in the contexts of tourism and consumption. Working with cultural processes and being in international professional contexts, PBL and interdisciplinarity have also become a focal point. Ana María Macías García is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Aalborg University and member of Demos. Her research adopts an interdisciplinary approach bridging linguistics and social studies. She works on migration, agency, power relations, and language learning, with a particular interest in how people position themselves in cultural contexts, negotiate identities and create meaning in unequal settings. Kirsten Jæger, Associate Professor, PhD, at Aalborg University, is a member of the university’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Problem-Based Learning, where she specialises in interdisciplinary collaboration. As an educational researcher, she also investigates European higher education policy, including the importance of interdisciplinarity.

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Title: Working with Interdisciplinarity in Knowledge Communities