Introduction: Configurations of interdisciplinarity across the educational system

In Denmark, the idea of interdisciplinarity has recently re-emerged on the agenda across the entire educational system. While this emergence echoes a global tendency, we argue in this book that the processes and practices of interdisciplinarity in education are not necessarily uniform or consistent, nor are the kinds of disciplining they yield. In this introduction, we argue for approaching interdisciplinarity as multiple, complex and global configurations, rather than as a straightforward prospect for change or through abstract models for implementation. This introduction creates the grounds for the studies in this book of the different configurations of interdisciplinarity in different educational sectors in Denmark, carving out the approach to interdisciplinarity as configurations, and substantiating the specific context of these configurations in the Danish welfare state development and history of education. It provides insights into the intertwinement of interdisciplinarity with Danish welfare development, showing the quest to solve social problems and shape responsible individuals through applied social scientific knowledge. And it elucidates the changing agendas associated with interdisciplinarity in education; from its emergence with progressive movements in the 1920s to its association today with ideals of innovation and systems of performance measurement.