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In this book, the authors provide a much-needed general theory of
interdisciplinarity and relate it to health/wellbeing research and
professional practice. In so doing they make it possible for
practitioners of the different disciplines to communicate without
contradiction or compromise, resolving the tensions that beset much
interdisciplinary work. Such a general theory is only possible if
we assume that there is more to being (ontology) than empirical
being (what we can measure directly). Therefore, the unique
approach to interdisciplinarity applied in this book starts from
ontology, namely that there is a multimechanismicity (a
multiplicity of mechanisms) in open systems, and then moves to
epistemology. By contrast, the mainstream approach, which fails to
acknowledge ontology, is "unserious" and tends to result in a
methodological hierarchy, unconducive of interdisciplinarity, in
which empiricist science is overtly or tacitly assumed to be the
superior version of science. This book is primarily aimed at those
people interested in improving health and wellbeing - such as
researchers, policy-makers, educators, and general practitioners.
However, it will also be useful to academics engaged in the broader
academic debate on interdisciplinary metatheory.
In this book, the authors provide a much-needed general theory of
interdisciplinarity and relate it to health/wellbeing research and
professional practice. In so doing they make it possible for
practitioners of the different disciplines to communicate without
contradiction or compromise, resolving the tensions that beset much
interdisciplinary work. Such a general theory is only possible if
we assume that there is more to being (ontology) than empirical
being (what we can measure directly). Therefore, the unique
approach to interdisciplinarity applied in this book starts from
ontology, namely that there is a multimechanismicity (a
multiplicity of mechanisms) in open systems, and then moves to
epistemology. By contrast, the mainstream approach, which fails to
acknowledge ontology, is "unserious" and tends to result in a
methodological hierarchy, unconducive of interdisciplinarity, in
which empiricist science is overtly or tacitly assumed to be the
superior version of science. This book is primarily aimed at those
people interested in improving health and wellbeing - such as
researchers, policy-makers, educators, and general practitioners.
However, it will also be useful to academics engaged in the broader
academic debate on interdisciplinary metatheory.
This book throws light onto the nature and causes of three
different but strongly interconnected crises in contemporary
societies worldwide: an economic crisis, an ecological crisis and a
normative (moral and political) crisis. These crises are reflected
in the profoundly inequitable distribution of wealth, resources and
life opportunities around the world. If we follow the causal roots
of these crises, we are led back to an inherent dynamic in the
capitalist economic system itself, discursively expressed as
neoclassical, mainstream economics. For instance, by conflating
human needs with market demand, mainstream economics disregards the
needs of those who do not have sufficient purchasing power, as well
as any needs that cannot be quantified or monetised in some way.
Mainstream economics also ignores the notion of natural limits.
Furthermore, it seems that everything that is quantifiable is
potentially for sale and this results in the substitution of
nature, indigenous cultural traditions and various life forms with
commodities and 'human capital'. The latter is defined as the
skills instrumental for continual economic growth. Besides
critiquing the academic discipline of economics, this book also
points to a number of dysfunctional and crisis-prone structures and
practices of substantive economic life. It will be of interest to
students and scholars working in philosophy, economics and
environmental studies.
Southern Africa, where most of these book chapters originate, has
been identified as one of regions of the world most at risk of the
consequences of environmental degradation and climate change. At
the same time, it is still seeking ways to overcome the century
long ravages of colonial and apartheid impositions of structural
and epistemic violence. Research deliberations and applied research
case studies in environmental education and activism from this
region provide an emerging contextualized engagement that is
related to a wider internationally articulated quest to achieve
social-ecological justice, resilience and sustainability through
educational interventions. This book introduces a decade of mainly
southern African critical realist environmental education research
and thinking that asks the question: "How can we facilitate
learning processes that will lead to the flourishing of the Earth's
people and ecosystems in more socially just ways?" The
environmental education research topics represented in this book
are wide-ranging. However, they all exhibit the common theme of
social justice and wanting to create change towards a better
future. All the authors have used critical realist or critical
realist-influenced research methodologies. Offering contributions
from a small but growing community of researchers working with
critical realism in the global South, this book will be of interest
to students, scholars and practitioners in the areas of
environmental education, sustainability, development and the
philosophy of critical realism in general.
This book throws light onto the nature and causes of three
different but strongly interconnected crises in contemporary
societies worldwide: an economic crisis, an ecological crisis and a
normative (moral and political) crisis. These crises are reflected
in the profoundly inequitable distribution of wealth, resources and
life opportunities around the world. If we follow the causal roots
of these crises, we are led back to an inherent dynamic in the
capitalist economic system itself, discursively expressed as
neoclassical, mainstream economics. For instance, by conflating
human needs with market demand, mainstream economics disregards the
needs of those who do not have sufficient purchasing power, as well
as any needs that cannot be quantified or monetised in some way.
Mainstream economics also ignores the notion of natural limits.
Furthermore, it seems that everything that is quantifiable is
potentially for sale and this results in the substitution of
nature, indigenous cultural traditions and various life forms with
commodities and 'human capital'. The latter is defined as the
skills instrumental for continual economic growth. Besides
critiquing the academic discipline of economics, this book also
points to a number of dysfunctional and crisis-prone structures and
practices of substantive economic life. It will be of interest to
students and scholars working in philosophy, economics and
environmental studies.
Southern Africa, where most of these book chapters originate, has
been identified as one of regions of the world most at risk of the
consequences of environmental degradation and climate change. At
the same time, it is still seeking ways to overcome the century
long ravages of colonial and apartheid impositions of structural
and epistemic violence. Research deliberations and applied research
case studies in environmental education and activism from this
region provide an emerging contextualized engagement that is
related to a wider internationally articulated quest to achieve
social-ecological justice, resilience and sustainability through
educational interventions. This book introduces a decade of mainly
southern African critical realist environmental education research
and thinking that asks the question: "How can we facilitate
learning processes that will lead to the flourishing of the Earth's
people and ecosystems in more socially just ways?" The
environmental education research topics represented in this book
are wide-ranging. However, they all exhibit the common theme of
social justice and wanting to create change towards a better
future. All the authors have used critical realist or critical
realist-influenced research methodologies. Offering contributions
from a small but growing community of researchers working with
critical realism in the global South, this book will be of interest
to students, scholars and practitioners in the areas of
environmental education, sustainability, development and the
philosophy of critical realism in general.
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