Category Archives: Critical Realism

Archer and The Dedicated Meta-Reflexive

  In this third blog in the series I offer a characterisation of another key set of players in the substantive area of health inequalities, those who stand up against or resist the ‘greedy bastards’. The greedy bastards here comprise a cabal at the core of the capitalist executive class (CCE) supported by the state’s… Read More »

Archer and The Focused Autonomous Reflexive

Since the quadrupling of oil prices in the early 1970s we have witnessed a change in the class/command dynamic; namely, an intensification of class power relative to that of the increasingly privatised yet regulatory state. In recognition of this I formulated my deliberately provocative greedy bastards hypothesis (GBH), an hypothesis many will find even less… Read More »

Archer, Morphogenesis and Reflexivity

This is a longer blog than is usual for me, for which apologies. It is the first of a projected series of four or five. They will examine the writings of Margaret Archer on reflexivity. In this one I set out the basics of her argument and in subsequent ones seek to apply it in… Read More »

Critical Realism and Epilepsy-related QofL

This blog builds on my previous precis of basic critical realism to offer an illustration of its potential for coming to terms with ‘interdisciplinarity’. The focus is on epilepsy-related quality of life, and my analysis draws on work conducted with Caroline Selai and Panagiota Afentouli and published as a chapter in a volume edited by… Read More »

Basic Critical Realism, ‘Interdisciplinarity’ and Health

I recently convened an afternoon workshop on ‘interdisciplinarity and health’ as part of UCL’s Behaviour Change Month. I spoke briefly about philosophy, Henry Potts about methods and Caroline Selai about applications. The ensuing discussion was lively and there will I am sure be follow-up gatherings. In this blog, the first of two, I summarize what… Read More »