Double Hermeneutics in Transdisciplinary Labour Research: A Dialogue-Oriented Methodology for Overcoming Epistemological Challenges

Sociological labour studies are distinguished by their transdisciplinary approach, emphasising close collaboration with practitioners throughout the research process. Yet, the production of transdisciplinary knowledge is a highly intricate and consequently challenging process. While sociological studies are embedded in the dialectical interplay of interpretation and understanding, which has been referenced as a double hermeneutic (Giddens, 1984), transdisciplinary sociological studies are confronted with a twofold double hermeneutic. From the perspective of the practitioners themselves, they occupy the dual role of both subjects and objects of research. They engage in the research and analysis of an issue that directly affects them. Moreover, this also applies to the researchers who are participating in the study. The objectives of their research activities are to produce findings based on scientific rigour and to provide solutions to practical problems. In this way, researchers also exert a more or less direct influence on social or operational practice in a transdisciplinary setting. To address the complex epistemological challenges inherent to these double hermeneutics, this paper will present the argument that a reflexive dialogue orientation should be a core methodological feature of transdisciplinary studies. This, in turn, has the potential to enable transdisciplinary knowledge exchange formats to produce socially and epistemologically robust knowledge, by aligning it more closely with the standards of basic research. The paper will initially present the transdisciplinary research strategy and its epistemological challenges, to then illustrate the dialogical methodology with reference to the field of sociological labour studies. In conclusion, the paper will examine the potential implications of this approach for future transdisciplinary research beyond the field of labour studies.