Transdisziplinäre Forschung: Vorbote Eines "New Deal" Zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft?

Transdisdplinary research creates a specific site of negotiation ("Gestaltungsöffentlichkeit") in which both scientific and extra-scientific forms of knowledge are debated. Our empirical analysis indicates that creating this site requires "boundary work" that balances the different and, often, somewhat contradictory stakes of all participants. Boundary work is particularly apparent in the management of interfaces (i.e., in the capability of all persons involved to deliberate their demands at the science/policy-interface). We assume that this practice not only contributes to the development of a new type of research but, more generally, to a "New Deal" between science and society at large. This justifies a perspective that emphasises political implications because the boundaries between science and politics are increasingly subjected to intensified negotiations. Such negotiations can be observed through the different practices found in the more political domains (e.g., consensus conferences) and in the more scientific domains (e. g., transdisciplinary research). As a consequence, we conclude that boundaries in relation to the stakes are currently shifting. The boundaries do not, however, dissolve.