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MonographDOI

Realist social theory : the morphogenetic approach

01 Sep 1997-Social Forces (Cambridge University Press)-Vol. 22, Iss: 1, pp 335
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Approach not only rejects methodological individualism and holism, but argues that the debate between them has been replaced by a new one, between elisionary theorising and emergentist theories based on a realist ontology of the social world.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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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a framework for understanding the interaction between person-centered leadership by project managers and team-centered leader by individuals in the project team is developed, which builds on Archer's Realist Social Theory and its morphogenetic cycle.

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors further elucidate and extend some of Hoque et al.'s key arguments related to the use of theoretical triangulation in accounting research, focusing on how the understanding of the notion of theory can be enhanced from a critical realist perspective.
Abstract: Purpose – This is a rejoinder to Hoque et al. (2013) previously published in this journal. The purpose of this paper is to further elucidate and extend some of their key arguments related to the use of theoretical triangulation in accounting research. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual discussion focusing on how the understanding of the notion of theoretical triangulation can be enhanced from a critical realist perspective. Findings – The author draws attention to some ambiguities in Hoque et al.’s (2013) reasoning and advance a critique of their rather under-developed conceptions of the relationship between ontology and epistemology, the epistemic premises influencing the choice of theories and the role of theories in conditioning empirical observations and scholarly knowledge claims. To address these issues the author advances a critical realist approach and discusses its implications for theoretical triangulation in accounting research. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the o...

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors adopt a decolonial gaze to re-describe the structural and cultural conditioning of the post-colonial university and the contradictions it sets up for black students.
Abstract: This paper was motivated by student protests at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where the Rhodes Must Fall collective called for the ‘decolonisation’ of the university’s curriculum. I deliberately adopt a ‘decolonial gaze’ to re-describe the structural and cultural conditioning of the post-colonial university and the contradictions it sets up for black students. Using Archer’s morphogenetic cycle and Bernsteins’s pedagogic device I tease out what contestation for control of the curriculum entails, with a particular focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences. I identify three groups of students for whom the situational logic of the post-colonial university offers very different opportunities for agential development and therefore academic success. At the level of pedagogy, I suggest there may be a ‘collective hermeneutic gap’ between some academics and their students. Finally the paper makes some suggestions for what curriculum reform in a post-colonial Humanities and Social Sciences mi...

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that qualitative research that focuses attention on how change is being understood and experienced on the ground can contribute to broader theoretical insights, and they present a critical realist analysis of the significance of agency as developed by Margaret Archer.
Abstract: In this article I argue that qualitative research that focuses attention on how change is being understood and experienced on the ground can contribute to broader theoretical insights. In recent research I have been exploring how lecturers apply their understandings of learning outcomes and personal development planning. At one level, these practices are mundane, yet they are subject to increased regulation, policy debate and scrutiny. In understanding macro-level changes, as well as deconstructing policy rhetoric, we need theoretical work that pays attention to the exercise of agency at the micro-level. The article presents a critical realist analysis of the significance of agency as developed by Margaret Archer. The argument for the importance of detailed analysis of mundane practices is then elaborated in the analysis of specific examples. The conclusions are not based on privileging a particular method. Rather, I argue that, in theorising about teaching and learning, and change in higher education, we...

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Reflective structuration is proposed as a social and temporal mechanism by which members of a community coconstruct/reconstruct shared inquiry structures to shape and guide their ongoing knowledge building processes.
Abstract: This research integrates theory building, technology design, and design-based research to address a central challenge pertaining to collective inquiry and knowledge building: How can student-driven, ever-deepening inquiry processes become socially organized and pedagogically supported in a community? Different from supporting inquiry using predesigned structures, we propose reflective structuration as a social and temporal mechanism by which members of a community coconstruct/reconstruct shared inquiry structures to shape and guide their ongoing knowledge building processes. Idea Thread Mapper (ITM) was designed to help students and their teacher monitor emergent directions and co-organize the unfolding inquiry processes over time. A study was conducted in two upper primary school classrooms that investigated electricity with the support of ITM. Qualitative analyses of classroom videos and observational data documented the formation and elaboration of shared inquiry structures. Content analysis of the onl...

69 citations