Ted Benton has had a long and distinguished career and made important contributions in realist philosophy, ecology and Marxism. In part 1 of this wide-ranging interview he discusses his formative years and education, how he came to have an enduring interest in ecology and natural history, and his early work and career. In particular he discusses two matters of special interest to realists. First, how he came to write, and the key arguments contained in, Philosophical Foundations of the Three Sociologies. (...) This book is one of the earliest works in modern realism and deserves wider recognition today. Second, his early and influential critique of Bhaskar's The Possibility of Naturalism. The critique pinpoints several important issues with the original formulation of naturalism and is indicative of the line of reasoning that would enable Benton to connect together natural and social science. In part 2, the discussion turns to this later work. (shrink)

Critical realism has a reputation for requiring substantial intellectual commitment and time to gain understanding, and being difficult to operationalize as an empirical research methodology. Our paper employs the theoretical framework of ‘threshold concepts’ to explore these issues. We illustrate the five qualities of ‘threshold concepts’ using existing literature by scholars describing their journey of engagement with critical realism. We then apply the framework from three viewpoints. First, we offer the perspective of a budding critical realist scholar who transforms their (...) understanding through reflexivity. Second, we consider the role of critical realist communities of practice, peer-to-peer and social learning. Finally, we look from the standpoint of a more experienced critical realist academic advisor or supervisor working with a student. The paper concludes by asking: what kind of learning and teaching frameworks of engagement can the critical realist community build to better support apprentice critical realists? (shrink)

Critical realism has a reputation for requiring substantial intellectual commitment and time to gain understanding, and being difficult to operationalize as an empirical research methodology. Our paper employs the theoretical framework of ‘threshold concepts’ to explore these issues. We illustrate the five qualities of ‘threshold concepts’ using existing literature by scholars describing their journey of engagement with critical realism. We then apply the framework from three viewpoints. First, we offer the perspective of a budding critical realist scholar who transforms their (...) understanding through reflexivity. Second, we consider the role of critical realist communities of practice, peer-to-peer and social learning. Finally, we look from the standpoint of a more experienced critical realist academic advisor or supervisor working with a student. The paper concludes by asking: what kind of learning and teaching frameworks of engagement can the critical realist community build to better support apprentice critical realists? (shrink)

After supplanting one of the most liberally oriented governments in recent Philippine history, the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte navigated a tumultuous six-year term subject to sustained criticism of wanton disregard for human rights and controversial foreign policy. He was succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos II, heir to the authoritarian figure whose downfall marked the restoration of liberal democracy in 1986. Selected literature from contemporary Filipino scholars explores this phenomenon in three themes: (1) a population’s susceptibility to manipulative disinformation, (2) discursive interactions (...) between populists and the public, and (3) historical patterns between leaders and their associated regimes. This paper complements this body of research by utilizing critical realism to introduce the ideas of structured entities as targets of agential action, positioned agents that give materiality to meaning constructed in discourse, emergent structures irreducible to the leaders who are instrumental in their creation, and the necessity or contingency of relations between regimes. (shrink)

After supplanting one of the most liberally oriented governments in recent Philippine history, the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte navigated a tumultuous six-year term subject to sustained criticism of wanton disregard for human rights and controversial foreign policy. He was succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos II, heir to the authoritarian figure whose downfall marked the restoration of liberal democracy in 1986. Selected literature from contemporary Filipino scholars explores this phenomenon in three themes: (1) a population’s susceptibility to manipulative disinformation, (2) discursive interactions (...) between populists and the public, and (3) historical patterns between leaders and their associated regimes. This paper complements this body of research by utilizing critical realism to introduce the ideas of structured entities as targets of agential action, positioned agents that give materiality to meaning constructed in discourse, emergent structures irreducible to the leaders who are instrumental in their creation, and the necessity or contingency of relations between regimes. (shrink)

Gilles Deleuze’s concept of the virtual is rooted in a tradition that conceptualizes it in terms of potentiality rather than illusion or falsity. His theory of the relationship between the virtual, the actual, the real, and the possible presents similarities with critical realism’s ontological domains of the real and the actual, and thus offers alternative and/or additional realist ways of thinking about those domains, especially regarding causal powers residing in relationships rather than entities. Virtuality applies to the empirical domain as (...) well due to experience’s grounding in signs, which are relational. Deleuze also employs virtuality to formulate a concept of simulacra, which illuminates the nature of scientific models and provides a starting point for a critical realist approach to artworks. (shrink)

Gilles Deleuze’s concept of the virtual is rooted in a tradition that conceptualizes it in terms of potentiality rather than illusion or falsity. His theory of the relationship between the virtual, the actual, the real, and the possible presents similarities with critical realism’s ontological domains of the real and the actual, and thus offers alternative and/or additional realist ways of thinking about those domains, especially regarding causal powers residing in relationships rather than entities. Virtuality applies to the empirical domain as (...) well due to experience’s grounding in signs, which are relational. Deleuze also employs virtuality to formulate a concept of simulacra, which illuminates the nature of scientific models and provides a starting point for a critical realist approach to artworks. (shrink)

As I write this, my final editorial for the Journal of Critical Realism (JCR), I find myself reflecting on its history. It was initiated to contribute to the development of critical realist approac...

Society and its social forms develop through the social interactions of various agents. The tempo of such transformations has increased over the last decades, which implies a growing mass of obsolete and dead social forms. One persisting social form whose death is overdue, given its effect on climate change, is fossil capitalism. This article introduces the term morphocide, which is defined as the active ending of social forms and denotes the deliberate dismantling of an existing system to promote the growth (...) of alternatives. Morphocide is discussed in relation to potential strategies for how fossil capitalism may be actively ended, where it is argued that the heart of fossil capitalism is in political bodies with regulatory power, and that it may be dismantled through a combination of political pressure, direct and legal action, and establishing viable alternatives that may be upscaled. (shrink)

Society and its social forms develop through the social interactions of various agents. The tempo of such transformations has increased over the last decades, which implies a growing mass of obsolete and dead social forms. One persisting social form whose death is overdue, given its effect on climate change, is fossil capitalism. This article introduces the term morphocide, which is defined as the active ending of social forms and denotes the deliberate dismantling of an existing system to promote the growth (...) of alternatives. Morphocide is discussed in relation to potential strategies for how fossil capitalism may be actively ended, where it is argued that the heart of fossil capitalism is in political bodies with regulatory power, and that it may be dismantled through a combination of political pressure, direct and legal action, and establishing viable alternatives that may be upscaled. (shrink)