Migrating Complexity: Generalizing in Inter/Transdisciplinary Research

Crossing and transcending disciplines requires making generalizations from one area and applying it to another. One such area is complexity theory, which has applications across the natural and human sciences. This article shows how complexity theory is the example par excellence of generalizing by showing similar features between social, social–ecological, and narrative systems. It then asks: What happens when we move complexity or any other idea/finding from one discipline to another? Drawing on migration studies, this article outlines a set of rules that can be applied to generalizing across disciplines—moving ideas is much like migration itself. To this end, it looks at the barbarian migrations in Late Antiquity, Critical Muslim Studies, and migration through the lens of Tourism Studies. The article ends by suggesting the inter/transdisciplinary process is also like a complex system. The article, therefore, offers insight into how to generalize between disciplines and also looks at the inter/transdisciplinary research process.