INTRODUCTION

This chapter is a reflection on an interdisciplinary project carried out at Antwerp University. We do not delve into the results of the project, but use the project itself as a tool to look at the boundaries between family law and family sociology in order to ask ourselves what these domains can learn from each other. The reflection is important, as interdisciplinary work is oft en encouraged by universities and funding agencies as a way to push forward scientific insights. The idea is that the confrontation of other disciplines stimulates researchers to strengthen their own fundamental paradigmatic assumptions or to develop them in new directions.

In reflecting upon our project, we start from the dynamic model of interdisciplinary research as proposed by van Klink and Taekema. For their taxonomy, these authors start from the core elements that constitute an academic discipline. They identify five such building blocks. First, a discipline uses a particular set of concepts. This is the basic language of a discipline, and even though an overlap in the wording might exist across disciplines, the content of the concepts is defined and debated within the context of the discipline itself. The second element is the methods that are preferably used in a discipline. Here, the overlap is much greater across disciplines, but nevertheless we can find a set of recurring methods that are applied in a majority of studies in a certain discipline. The third element concerns the particular object of a discipline. Van Klink and Taekema define this as the part of reality or experience that is studied by the discipline. Sometimes the object of the discipline is a discussion of its own, as academics within the discipline do not all agree on what exactly is the object of study in their field. Law is given as an example. Fourthly, a discipline is characterised by its problem awareness. Even though the object of two disciplines might overlap (e.g. sociology and economics), disciplines define the kind of problems that are considered interesting and research-worthy. And finally, the research goals pursued are a distinctive element in differentiating disciplines. Again, the object of study might be the same, but the goal of the study might be either descriptive or explanatory.