Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

How do disciplines emerge? The world has seen many changes in how knowledge is viewed and used; yet, the academic world is slow to respond to these changes in its protected environment. While the subjects/content taught may evolve, the social structure of academic disciplines, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, has seen little change over the last sixty to eighty years. The strong duality of “the department and the discipline” influences research, hiring, and career advancement. Those involved in new fields vie for the endorsement of more established or core disciplines, well-established journals, and highly-reputed conferences. Work in interdisciplinary studies, while accepted, tends not to receive the same visibility and respect as that in the more “core” disciplines. There are many good and valid reasons for this rigorous approach to disciplines; however, a new perspective may be needed. This paper will examine the key characteristics of disciplines and their evolution, looking at two specific cases, the fields of “entrepreneurship,” with origins in the 1930s and “knowledge management” appearing in the 1990s, drawing on a number of perspectives, including the evolution of scientific paradigms and the perspective of institutional theory.