"What is (in) a Relation? An interdisciplinary (relational) mapping on the nature of relations for managing  ‘real world’ complexity and interdisciplinarity"

Overview

The notion of ‘relation’, as that which exists ‘between’ and connects everything in the natural and social worlds, is a fundamental concept to understand and manage the world’s critical and complex challenges. Different conceptions of relations coexist, within and between disciplines. Their coordination could build synergies leading to more complex (differentiated, integrated, emergent) understandings of the organisation of the world, thus expanding our possibilities for action in the management of its complexity. However, these different conceptions of relations are often grounded in such distinct worldviews (ontologies, epistemologies, axiologies, modes of explanation, predictions, praxeologies) that they often don’t directly map or translate into each other. Additionally, differences in language may difficult their coordination, hindering the development of deeper inter/transdisciplinary collaborations which could explore the potential complementarity of this diversity.  Recursively, a richer understanding of the nature of relations is required to investigate and intervene on the inter/transdisciplinary relational processes that can lead to particular types of outcomes (e.g. innovative leaps).

This pilot study builds on deep interdisciplinary interactions, organised to facilitate complex modes of thinking. It will explore contributions from different domains to abstract an eco-topological map, relating different conceptions of relations and corresponding worldviews, and to build a (proto)meta-language for relations. It will probe their potential for informing new approaches and tools to research and manage  ‘real world’ complexity and inter/transdisciplinary processes. The research design informed by principles of complexity (e.g. recursion, reflexivity, self-organisation), to facilitate the emergence and integration of novel ideas. The core interdisciplinary team, itself, constitutes a research tool, supported by a variety of techniques aimed at promoting rich and intensive dialogues and interactions, stimulated by key external contributions, case studies and purposeful literature reviews. The project adopts an exploratory, discovery-oriented, abductive qualitative approach, aiming at theoretical development and integration. 

Keywords: Relations; Relational mapping; Interdisciplinarity; Transdisciplinarity; Complexity; Complex problems;  Meta-language; Conceptual ecology of relations

The research idea

Understanding the nature of ‘relations’ is fundamental to understanding the world’s complexity [1,2,3].  Different conceptions and worldviews result in different languages informing different choices in approaching ‘real world’ challenges. There is a pressing need to build more complex (differentiated, integrated and emergent) understandings [4,5] (of understandings [6]) of relations, which could be addressed by exploring the potential for synergetic coordination and complementarity [7-8] between a variety of conceptions and perspectives, within and between different disciplines. More complex knowledge could expand our choices and possibilities for action [4,9, 10]. However, ‘relations’ are approached in numerous ways, not rarely without an explicit acknowledgment of the worldviews that frame them (e.g. ontologies, epistemologies, axiologies, explanations, predictions, praxeologies) [1, 11-15]. In many domains, the vocabulary of relations is not rich enough. Different conceptions, languages and worldviews are not always easily bridged (or recognised), contributing to intra/inter/transdisciplinary deadlocks and obstructing positive collaborations [16]. 

The research idea: through mapping an ecology of relations of (conceptions of) relations (and corresponding worldviews) we may build more complex understandings of what is (in) the nature of a relation, establishing the foundations for a meta-language (capable of relating different languages and opening new dimensions for their coordination). This can be achieved through deep interdisciplinarity [16, 17] embedded in principles of complexity (e.g. recursion, reflexivity, self-organisation) [18-20], aiming at complex modes of (abductive) thinking and theoretical integration [21-23]. This may also inform a more intentional management of inter/transdisciplinary interactions. 

Background

The notion of ‘relation’ has been explored, in different ways, in different domains, namely in the Social Sciences [e.g. 1, 9, 14, 24, 25 ]. It is at the core of the notions of organisation, systems and complexity [1-3,, 26], fundamental in the Complexity Sciences [7,18,19]. Although increasingly more consensual that “things” “are related” and “interconnected”, relations often remain poorly qualified in terms of what they entail, their properties, and the type of constraints (limitations and opportunities for change) they create. A deeper dialogue between domains of knowledge is required to build a more complex understanding of what is truly (in) a relation and address fundamental questions. However,  there are such distinct conceptions and languages associated with distinct worldviews (ontologies, epistemologies, axiologies, modes of explanation, praxeologies) [1, 11-15], that the construction of more integrated knowledge and deeper insights is hindered by difficulties in their coordination. 

Nevertheless, as Strathern stated "the relation as a model of complex phenomena, them, has the power to bring dissimilar order or levels of knowledge together while conserving their difference"[24].  It might be necessary to explore an ecology of (different conceptions of) relations (of relations) and underlying worldviews and to build a meta-language to develop new tools and modes of approaching real world complexity in research and practice. The intentional management of inter/transdisciplinarity [17,27, 22], itself, depends on our overall understanding of the nature of relations (e.g. In what ways may disciplines relate towards abductive leaps) [27,29].

The Focus

This project assumes that there is an underlying potential for building a deeper and richer understanding of the nature of the relations as a condition for grasping the complexity of the world that is dispersed across disciplines, frameworks and worldviews [5,11,12, 17]. It proposes that creative interdisciplinary interactions may realise this potential, by building more complex understanding (of understandings of) relations (of relations) which may expand our possibilities for action and inform the development of new (modes of) interventions, through a focus on relations, as routes to managing real world complexity and addressing complex challenges [9, 10, 23]. 

Adopting a recursive relational approach, this project aims at constructing an ecology of conceptions of relations (of relations) and underlying worldviews and building the foundations of a meta-language of relations- capable of translating different languages, while opening new spaces for their coordination and integration and for the emergence of new dimensions. Recursively, it will explore their implications for tackling the relational processes underlying deep inter/transdisciplinary interactions  and inform new interventions for the intentional management of inter/transdisciplinary interactions towards particular types of outcomes (e.g. abductive leaps)  [23, 27]. 

This project lies on the assumption that engaging with, and understanding, complexity requires commensurately complex and congruent approaches [4, 10]. Hence, the research process is embedded in principles of complexity (e.g. recursion, reflexivity, self-organisation) in order to produce new knowledge and tools  congruent with the complexity of the world, exploring applications to different domains of practice and complex challenges. 

Theoretical novelty

This pilot project aims at producing innovate conceptual and methodological contributions, building the foundations for the construction of:

i) (Set of) Eco-topological map(s) relating different (implicit and explicit) conceptions and understandings (of understandings) of relations (e.g. definitions, types, properties) and corresponding worldviews, highlighting processes, perspectives and dimensions that could facilitate their coordination;

(ii) A (proto) meta-language of relations- a language of languages- capable of relating languages, recognising their differences and similarities. This meta-language should facilitate communication and open new dimensions for the coordination of different perspectives and for its own evolution.  It should  afford new possibilities for thinking about, investigating, communicating  and intervening at the level of the relations (and relations of relations) supporting complex systems and supporting positive communication in inter/transdisciplinary endeavours; 

(ii) A process-relational framework for inter/transdisciplinary coordination, drawing from the eco-topological map(s) of conceptions of relations and the meta-language to define different types of  types of inter/transdisciplinary interactions and relations. This framework should offer new possibilities for  describing, investigating (from a process-focused perspective) and supporting the development of interventions focused on the intentional management of inter/transdisciplinary interactions towards  particular types of outcomes (e.g. abductive leaps; density; innovative solutions).

The project  will probe the potential of these contributions and their implications for theory (e.g. definitions, modes of thinking; theoretical integration), research (e.g. modes of inquiry; methods) and practice (e.g. technological applications; intervention techniques) with a special focus on selected applied domains of intervention for addressing complex problems.

Methodology

The project adopts a general exploratory, discovery-oriented methodology [32-33], integrating principles of complexity in its own design (e.g. diversity/ structural variety, recursion, reflexivity, circular causality, non-linearity)in order to  facilitate the emergence of new ideas and patterns [4,28]. It will  adopt a recursive design through the re-entry of its own products (e.g. maps and meta-language) into the research process. The core team will explore contributions from their own domains, expanding to others through the contributions of guest collaborators. The process will be guided by pragmatic concerns regarding salient problems in team’s applied domains of research and action. Qualitative analysis techniques will be applied to a purposeful literature review [29-31], and applied case studies [e.g. 34], identifying both explicit and implicit conceptions of relations. The core interdisciplinary team will operate as a research tool, recording and analysing its own dialogues and engaging in creative, dynamic, collaborative- synchronous and asynchronous- interactions assisted by a variety of strategies  (e.g. collaborative reflexive journals [35,36], ‘reflecting teams’ for interdisciplinarity  [37, 38]; visual/design thinking [39-40]; dialogical methods [41]). These strategies aim to promote creative interactions between a variety of ideas, experimentation of different lenses and perspective, to  enhance reflexivity, and facilitate abductive leaps [28, 33]. Qualitative analyses will incorporate discourse analysis [31, 42],  strategies from grounded theory [43-44] and other coding and analytical approaches [29, 30, 44, 45], adapting them to the evolving nature of the research process to support abductive and integrative theorisation [33,44]. 

Expected Outcomes

The project aims at building the foundations for the construction of  a set of eco-topological map(s) relating different conceptions of relations and corresponding worldviews from which an emergent (proto)meta-language for relations will be developed. The team members will explore the relevance, applicability and implications of the emergent outcomes of the project to their domains to address salient and relevant problems, namely their potential to inform new modes for understanding complex problems and for the development of new types of interventions, strategies and resources for investigating and managing ‘real world’ complexity. 

The emergent meta-language and relational maps will have further applications in research studies and interventions targeting the nature, processes and outcomes of inter/transdisciplinary interactions and lead to the development of new (modes of) interventions for the management of positive interdisciplinarity. This project’s outputs may be further deepened in future studies, expanding the scope of the domains involved and exploring more inter/transdiciplinary applications.

Team 

(1) Ana Teixeira de Melo (PI), Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Associate of the York Cross-Disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis (YCCSA), University of York. Domains: Clinical, Family and Community Psychology; Family Sciences; Complexity theory and Complex thinking; Inter/transdisciplinarity;  Methodologies; Qualitative analysis.

(2)* Sofia Branco Sousa (Co-I), Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, PT. Domains: Education Sciences; Sociology of Sciences; Higher Education Studies; Modes of knowledge; Discourse Analysis

(3) Paula Duarte Lopes, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra; Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, PT. Domains: International Relations; Sociology; Peace studies; Development aid; Environmental governance; international water conflicts

(4)Dr. Leo Caves, Independent researcher, PT, Associate of the York Cross-Disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis (YCCSA), University of York; Collaborator of the Centre for the Philosophy of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Chemistry and Physics; Computational biology; Complex Systems; Interdisciplinarity; Relational and systems biology; Philosophy of Science

(5) Prof.  Susan Stepney, Department of Computer Science, University of York; York Cross-Disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis (YCCSA), University of York, UK. Domains: Computer Science; Non-standard computation;  Astrophysics; Complex systems modelling and simulation; Interdisciplinarity

(6) Dr.  Philip Garnett, The York Management School, University of York; York Cross-Disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis (YCCSA), University of York, UK. Domains: Systems and Organisations; Systems & Complex Systems theory; Network analysis; 

(7)Prof. Robin Purshouse, Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineer, University of Sheffield
.Domains: Control Systems Engineering; Decision Sciences; Policy and decision making; Mathematical modelling

(8) Dr. Jennifer Wells, California Institute of Integral Studies, USA. Domains: Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities, Anthropology, Utopias

(9)Dr. Mark Hardman, UCL, UK. D: Sci. education; Pedagogy and education; Physics

(10)Dr. Rika Preiser, Centre Sustainability Transitions, Univ. Stellenbosch,  South Africa. D: Philosophy; Conceptual dev. of complexity; Social-ecological sysT. and resilience; Environmental humanities 

(11) Dr. Tina Röck, University of Dundee, UK. Domains: Philosophy; Phenomenology; Process ontology  and metaphysics; philosophy of nature

(12) Prof. Jorge Soto-Andrade, University of Chile. Domains: Mathematics; systems biology; cognitive science

(13) Charbel El-Hani, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. Domains: History and Philosophy of Biology; Science Education; Intercultural processes; Transdisciplinarity

(14*)  Letícia Renault, Independent researcher. Research Consultant supporting the core team. Domains: enactivist approaches, participative and collaborative research methodologies, first-person methodologies

*accompanying/ reflexive research team member

Outputs

(to be updated)