ABSTRACT
The concept of interdisciplinarity arose in the early 1920s as a reaction to the positivistic reorganization of knowledge, which was parcelling it into discrete and partially isolated research traditions and programmes. Despite this longstanding reflection, epistemologists still appear to be rather dubious about how to define interdisciplinarity, besides some general observation about the importance to promote dialogue and cooperation among different research fields. This chapter suggests that the idea of interdisciplinarity is mainly intended as a mindset to interrogate problems as they emerge in the concrete experience of people, a disposition which, joining different perspectives, allows to come to grips with some of the ways of being, and feeling, in the contemporary world. It argues that the work on the mental health of and with the immigrants inspires not only the elaboration of new interdisciplinary approaches, but also a critical analysis on the role of power in suffering.
