Realist social theory : the morphogenetic approach
TL;DR: The Morphogenetic Cycle: the basis of the morphogenetic approach 7. Structural and cultural conditioning 8. The morphogenesis of agency 9. Social elaboration.
Abstract: Building on her seminal contribution to social theory in Culture and Agency, in this 1995 book Margaret Archer develops her morphogenetic approach, applying it to the problem of structure and agency. Since structure and agency constitute different levels of stratified social reality, each possesses distinctive emergent properties which are real and causally efficacious but irreducible to one another. The problem, therefore, is shown to be how to link the two rather than conflate them, as has been common theoretical practice. Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach not only rejects methodological individualism and holism, but argues that the debate between them has been replaced by a new one, between elisionary theorising and emergentist theories based on a realist ontology of the social world. The morphogenetic approach is the sociological complement of transcendental realism, and together they provide a basis for non-conflationary theorizing which is also of direct utility to the practising social analyst.
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28 Mar 2012
TL;DR: For millennia food has been one of the central elements around which human civilizations have evolved as discussed by the authors, and food-related activities have become increasingly integrated into the economic sphere, which has gained importance with respect to the sociocultural and political spheres.
Abstract: For millennia food has been one of the central elements around which human civilizations have evolved. In pre-capitalistic societies food-related activities were at the core of all the material, cultural and institutional structures which shaped social relations. Besides being the adherent factor of society, food has always been a weapon and an instrument of power. Along with the development of capitalism, food-related activities have become increasingly integrated into the economic sphere, which has gained importance with respect to the sociocultural and political spheres. Food has become nothing more than a commodity, its trade has become a way of wealth accumulation and the market, instead of self-production in peasant societies, has become its main way of procurement for urban dwellers and the workforce required by industrialization. The “domestication” of food habits and trade has been an important leverage for capital accumulation. As a matter of fact, as the literature on food regimes has clarified, different stages of capitalistic development have required different features of food governance.
21 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that Elder-Vass fails to realize the promise of reconciling social structural realism and social relational realism, and argued that Durkheim's social realism can be reconciled under the canopy of Harre's Immanental realism.
Abstract: David Elder-Vass's "For Emergence: refining Archer's account of social structure," is the latest of a number of papers which together constitute a family quarrel in the cognitive space After Postmodernism among realist social scientists. In the case under examination here in "Elder-Vass's Move and Giddens's Call", the concern is the structure and agency problem in the social sciences. The debate continuing in Elder-Vass's paper represents the proponents of the resurrection of Durkheim's social realism under the auspices of Bhaskar's Transcendental Realism; the debate that continues here as a response to the Elder-Vass paper, opposes the latter's attempt to advance the argument for social realism under the canopy of Harre's Immanental realism. The theme of this response is this: Elder-Vass fails to realize the promise of reconciling social structural realism and social relational realism.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an integrated policy network model for analysing forest policy formulation and implementation in Africa is presented, which is based on a relational conceptualisation of power, addressing some of the main weaknesses of the existing policy network theory.
21 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a conceptual framework to consider the complexity, power relationships and reality of sex-trafficking, and examine international efforts to fight the problem, noting that these encounter two fundamental barriers: poverty and sex discrimination in source countries generate an ongoing supply of trafficked women.
Abstract: Significant resources have been directed at stemming sex-trafficking. Despite this, it continues to flourish. The harm that results from an illicit global industry that nourishes crime, corrupt officials, and opportunistic consumers, is immense. This thesis presents a conceptual framework to consider the complexity, power relationships and reality of sex-trafficking. The thesis describes the extent of, and harms caused by, sex-trafficking internationally and into Australia. It examines international efforts to fight the problem, noting that these encounter two fundamental barriers. The first is that poverty and sex discrimination in source countries generates an ongoing supply of trafficked women. The second in the words of one senior United Nations official - is that ‘demand – at least for sexual exploitation – is largely the problem of the developed world ... Sexist attitudes, lifestyles that insult the dignity of women, and expensive media and advertising campaigns that exploit their bodies create a market for gender-based exploitation’ and trafficking (Luiz Carlos Da Costa ). Using an ethical-philosophical approach, the thesis explores fundamental concepts such as power, framing, choice, agency, exploitation, consent, adaptive preferences and the capabilities needed to lead a fully human life. Interviews on the ethical and policy issues with a number scholars, ethicists, criminologists, jurists, senior policy-makers and outstanding contributors to public-policy debates permits the thesis to test and extend its conceptual framework. This engagement, a virtual colloquium, reinforces that ethically robust policy development requires a demand focus that must take in the global political, economic, gender and cultural environment.
21 citations