Evolution of transdisciplinary regionology and regional specificity of knowledge management

Abstract

The article covers the process of evolution of regionological knowledge in its relation to knowledge management. The authors suggest distinguishing three large periods of the development of regionology: the period of proto-regionological knowledge, the period of systematic regionological knowledge and the period of institutionalized regionological knowledge. Each of the stages has its own approaches to knowledge management, and these approaches, in turn, are defined by well marked regional specificity. The authors consider the cases of Russia, European countries, Japan, China and others and conceptualize experience of knowledge management in the frameworks of regionology schools, fields and disciplines such as Area Studies, Regional Studies, Regional Science, World Complex Regional Studies. The authors of the article analyze the identity crisis of the regionological knowledge system and the place of regionological knowledge among other research areas, and define different approaches to this process: positioning regionological knowledge as a subdiscipline, as an interdisciplinary field, and as an independent discipline. The article establishes two bases for defining regional specificity of knowledge management: at an earlier stage – in the period of proto-regionological knowledge – on the basis of the difference in civilization between the East and the West, at later stages – on the basis of the firmness of the system of knowledge management on the part of the state structures. The authors of the article point out to the important role of the transdisciplinarization of regionological knowledge because the integration of different schools, research fields and subdisciplines into a common transdisciplinary field will improve opportunities for efficient knowledge management.