Interdisciplinarity and social power.

Abstract: This paper takes up the problem of how to structure a productive and genuine interdisciplinary engagement from the standpoint of geography. It examines first what makes interdisciplinarity difficult, focusing on the production of disciplinary cultures that define the material practices, social relations and epistemological commitments characteristic of a field of study. The paper then considers why interdisciplinarity seems to be in the ascendant and why and how geography has been used in this project. It cautions against a reductionist or imperialist style of interdisciplinary work and encourages geographers to develop their own approach to a productive engagement with other fields, in part through attending to the interdisciplinarity inherent in our own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]