Interdisciplinarity and punishment in the academy: reflecting upon researching and teaching human rights in university settings

This article reflects upon the experience of researching and teaching human rights, and related areas, in a number of university settings. It is argued, on the one hand, that interdisciplinarity is necessary, present and considered valuable in academic human rights scholarship. On the other hand, the article argues that disciplinary power is exercised in the academy with the effect of limiting the degree to which interdisciplinary research and teaching can take place in practice. As a consequence, interdisciplinary academics (and students) are punished. Both intellectual horizons and material opportunities are potentially constricted. Reflecting upon this potential, the article considers whether it is practically possible to reduce or avoid the disciplining and punishment of this kind of teaching and research in universities and concludes by making the case for a postdisciplinary reimagining of human rights in the academy.