The Potential of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Historical Research in the Current Development of Russian and International History

Introduction. This article addresses the pressing issue of applying modern interdisciplinary approaches to historical research in Russian and international history. These approaches open up opportunities for incorporating sources and methods unconventional for historians, fostering open interdisciplinary discussion, and enhancing transparency and intersubjective corroboration. Thus, not only the properties of the object that guide research interest, but also the interdisciplinary approaches themselves, by shaping and "bringing together" the necessary theories, concepts, and methods from the humanities and natural sciences – such as political science, sociology, psychology, economics, biology, mathematics, and others – are used for a more in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the object under study. Interdisciplinary approaches, as part of research approaches, define the strategy, tactics, means, and methods of research, combining knowledge and "bringing together" disciplines in the search for a "unified field" where mechanisms of convergence or divergence operate, delimiting, separating, and accumulating differences. At the current stage of development in Russian and international history, it is necessary to understand these mechanisms, as well as the results of applying interdisciplinary approaches.

Materials and methods. The proposed study is based on an analysis of interdisciplinary approaches in selected scholarly works of modern historical research, employing theoretical methods based on both traditions and ideas of pluralism in objective knowledge and methods that encourage methodological diversity.

Analysis. An analysis of the application of interdisciplinary approaches within the framework of the research area allowed us to identify two research positions, which can be conditionally described as optimistic – demonstrating the possibility of expanding the boundaries of research, the development of objective processes of divergence and convergence of science taking place in the modern world, facilitating the acquisition of new knowledge and the formation of new disciplines; and a pessimistic position, whose critical view of  interdisciplinarity is based on the unproductiveness of approaches, the possible blurring of the boundaries of the applied disciplines, the lack of deep knowledge in other disciplines, and the complexity of integration processes.

Results. It has been determined that the trend in contemporary historical research in Russian and international history is determined, on the one hand, by the conceptualization of historical knowledge and methodological foundations, and, on the other, by theoretical pluralism and methodological "convergence," processes that lead to interdisciplinarity and the search for methods adequate to the modern understanding of historical knowledge.

1. Abdeev RF. Philosophy of the Information Civilization. Moscow: VLADOS; 1994. 335 p. (In Russ.).

2. Alejnikov SS. The formation of the "us/them" image in French satirical publications in the "long" XIX century: thesis. Orel: Oryol State University named after I.S. Turgenev; 2025. 28 p. (In Russ.).

3. Arshinov VI., Vojcehovich VJ. Synergetic Knowledge: Between Network and Principles. Sinergeticheskaja paradigma. Moscow: Progress-Tradicija; 2000. p. 107-120. (In Russ.).

4. Zaichenko OV. The image of Russia in Germany in the first half of the XIX century. Russia and Germany. Collection of scientific papers, Issue 2. Moscow: Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 293 p. (In Russ.).

5. Zdravomyslov AG. Germans about Russians on the threshold of the new millennium. Conversations in Germany: 22 expert interviews with representatives of the German intellectual elite about Russia – its present, past, and future – content analysis and comments. Moscow: Russian Political Encyclopedia; 2003. 544 p. (In Russ.).

6. Kagan MS. Synergetics and cultural studies. Sinergetika i metody nauki. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1998. p. 201-219. (In Russ.).

7. Kovalchenko ID. Methods of historical research. Moscow: Nauka; 2003. 483 p. (In Russ.).

8. Collingwood RJ. The idea of the history. Autobiography. Moscow: Nauka; 1980. 486 p. (In Russ.).

9. Lektorskiy VA. Preface to the Russian edition by Polani M. Personal knowledge. Towards a post-critical philosophy. Moscow: Mysl; 1985; 6-14. (In Russ.).

10. Lepeshenko BM. Convergence or divergence of methodological systems? Socialno-politicheskie nauki. 2013;3:16-18. (In Russ.).

11. Lotman JM. JM Lotman and the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic school. Moscow: Gnozis; 1994. 560 p. (In Russ.).

12. Lotman JM. Culture and explosion. Moscow: Gnozis; 1992. 272 p. (In Russ.).

13. Lukyanenko NV. Methodological approaches in social and humanitarian cognition: possibilities of convergence and synthesis. Vestnik Omskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Gumanitarnye issledovanija. 2021;2(31):38–45. (In Russ.).

14. Malkov SJ. Mathematical modeling of historical processes. New Synergetics: A Look into the Third Millennium. Moscow: Nauka; 2002. 323 p. (In Russ.).

15. Mashkin MN. From the history of anti-Russian propaganda in Germanyin the late 80s of the XIX century. Russia and Germany in Collection of scientific papers, Issue 2. Moscow: Nauka; Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 293 p. (In Russ.).

16. Obolenskaya SV. The "German Question" and Russian perceptions of Germans during the First World War. Russia and Germany in Collection of scientific papers, Issue 2. Moscow: Nauka; Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 293 p. (In Russ.).

17. Polanyi M. Personal knowledge. Towards a post-critical philosophy. Moscow: Progress; 1985. 344 p. (In Russ.).

18. Prigozhin I. From existing to emerging. Time and complexity in the physical sciences. Moscow: Nauka; 1985. 327 p. (In Russ.).

19. Remer K. On the formation of ideas about Ukraine in Germany. XIX-XX centuries. Russia and Germany. Collection of scientific papers, Issue 2. Moscow: Nauka; Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 293 p. (In Russ.).

20. Repina LP. Historical science at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries: social theories and historiographical practice. Moscow: Krug; 2011. 560 p. (In Russ.).

21. Russia and Germany. Collection of scientific papers, Issue 2. Moscow: Nauka; Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 293 p. (In Russ.).

22. Rykun GN. Eastern European Politics in the context of solving the "German Question" (1941-1961). Rostov-on-Don: SKNC VSh; 2005. 428 p. (In Russ.).

23. Sapronov MV. The synergetic approach in historical research: new opportunities and difficulties of application. Obshhestv. nauki i sovremennost'. 2002;4:159-160. (In Russ.).

24. Танцевова А. В. Ogonyok magazine in the 1920s: reflection of the image of Soviet reality: thesis. Stavropol'; 2016. 280 p. (In Russ.).

25. Tosh D. The pursuit of truth. How to master the skill of a historian. Moscow: Ves' Mir; 2000. 296 p. (In Russ.).

26. Della Porta D., Keating M. Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspectiv. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2008. 365 p.

27. Berr H. Les rapports de l’histoire et des sciences socials d’apres M. Seignobos. Revue de Synthese Historique. 1902;4:293-302.