ABSTRACT This paper compares conceptualizations of knowledge by critical and social realism on the one hand and the social realist school in the sociology of education on the other. Although both schools appeal to ontological realism and judgmental rationality to address a common concern – epistemic relativism – their understandings of these concepts are not well-aligned. Our concern in this paper is that this issue has been misunderstood in problematic ways in research in the field of higher education. First, we provide some evidence to illustrate this concern. Second, we outline how key scholars in both schools have conceptualized knowledge. Third, we highlight their differences around the usage of ontological realism and judgmental rationality. Fourth, we discuss what is at stake for educational research and practice. Finally, we urge caution by researchers when claiming that the social realist school’s approach is philosophically supported by Bhaskar’s critical realism and Archer’s social realism.

ABSTRACT This article examines the European Green Deal (EGD) from a critical realist perspective and engages with two key approaches in eco-Marxist thought: the theory of metabolic rift and the world-ecology framework. Although these approaches have not directly addressed the EGD, they provide conceptual tools to analyze it as a hegemonic project of restructuring capital accumulation. The purpose of the study is not only to compare these approaches but also to explore how each can comprehend the EGD and, more importantly, what they offer in terms of emancipation, revolutionary agency, alternative forms of social organization, and transformative political imagination. Critical realism’s ontological view of nature as a material and autonomous domain, independent of human perception, together with Roy Bhaskar’s conception of emancipation as the ultimate goal of social knowledge, provide a unique foundation for rethinking the transformative relation between structure and agency. From a critical realist perspective, the metabolic rift approach conceptualizes the EGD more clearly in terms of class antagonisms and praxis, whereas the world-ecology framework tends to obscure the role of the revolutionary subject and thus limits political imagination.

ABSTRACT Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) is common and widespread in United Kingdom (UK) schools. It impacts negatively on children and young people (CYP) who display HSB, as well as on those who are harmed. Although educational psychologists (EPs) may play a role in school and local authority (LA) responses to HSB, little is currently known about their practice in this area. Using a critical realist paradigm, this qualitative research focused on the nature of EPs’ work in relation to HSB. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with eight practising EPs from across the UK, and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants described offering consultation, assessment, action planning and, less frequently, intervention in relation to HSB. Three themes capture the challenges of this work: the emotional reactions and discomfort evoked by the sexual nature of the problem, the risk inherent within the work, and the need to challenge narratives and actions. Three themes detail supportive factors for EPs: access to specialist knowledge, opportunities for multiagency collaboration and supervision, and drawing on professional values. Recommendations for practice to support EPs and educational psychology services when responding to HSB are discussed.

Purpose Mainstream Human Resource Management (HRM) research remains dominated by functionalist and positivist paradigms that treat labour as a controllable variable, while neglecting the structural, historical, and ideological conditions shaping HRM. This paper seeks to reclaim causality in HRM scholarship by introducing the Stratified HRM Analysis (SHA) Framework, grounded in Critical Realism, as a diagnostic and justice-oriented analytical approach. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper develops the SHA Framework by integrating Bhaskar's stratified ontology (empirical, actual, and real) with Archer's morphogenetic approach. It operationalises critical realist principles through retroductive reasoning, enabling systematic analysis linking employees' perceptions, enacted HR practices, and generative mechanisms. The framework is contrasted with dominant HRM models such as AMO, high-performance work systems, and best-practice configurations. Findings The SHA Framework shows that HRM outcomes cannot be explained through correlations between practices and performance alone. Instead, outcomes are shaped by generative mechanisms, including institutional logics, managerial ideologies, power relations, and historically sedimented inequalities. By rendering these mechanisms analytically visible, SHA explains why HRM practices generate divergent effects across contexts and how HRM systems may reproduce or challenge organizational inequality. Originality/value This paper addresses a key operational gap in critical realist HRM research. Rather than proposing a predictive model, the SHA Framework offers an ontologically grounded and causally oriented analytical device for diagnosing HRM systems as socially embedded and structurally conditioned, repositioning HRM inquiry toward explanation, reflexivity, and justice-oriented organizational transformation.

This article offers a systematic and contextual theological interpretation of Beyond Doctrine: A Critical-Liberative Theology of Faith and Emancipation [1]. Combining close textual analysis with semi-structured interviews conducted with the author between 2022 and 2026, the study reconstructs Asongu’s theological project as an integrated method uniting (i) liberation theology’s praxis-oriented criterion of truth, (ii) Newmanian doctrinal development as a grammar of reform without rupture, (iii) consciencecentered moral reasoning as the interior forum of responsible discernment, and (iv) a critical epistemology grounded in Asongu’s philosophical framework of Critical Synthetic Realism (CSR). The article argues that Critical-Liberative Theology (CLT) is best understood as a realist-liberationist method in which conscience mediates between doctrine’s historical development and the Church’s pastoral credibility, and that its canonical significance lies in a teleological construal of authority ordered to the salus animarum (c. 1752 CIC) and accountable to justice. The study situates CLT within debates on ecclesial authority, clericalism, institutional sin, and reform, emphasizing that Asongu’s critique of the Church arises from ecclesial loyalty and sacramental commitment rather than hostility. Finally, the article shows how CLT expands liberation theology beyond classical socio-economic horizons to include ecological devastation, gender and sexuality, technological domination, migration, and epistemic liberation— illustrated concretely in Asongu’s CSR-based argument that witchcraft is metaphysically incoherent and theologically unsound, and that superstition persists even among the educated as a form of epistemic captivity [2,3]

The dilemma of religious language is more prominent in two influential twentieth-century philosophical thoughts: logical positivists’ verificationism and Wittgenstein’s language-games theory. The contention is whether religious language can be meaningfully intelligible and cognitively credible in light of verificationist criteria of meaning and non-cognitivist interpretations of religious discourse. This paper analyses logical positivist claim that the verification principle renders metaphysical and theological statements cognitively meaningless and examines Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language-games and forms of life, as a response that relocates meaning within communal practice rather than empirical verification. It adopts philosophical analytic method by combining textual evaluation with comparative theoretical analysis. The study reveals that both Logical positivists’ and Wittgensteinian approaches are internally coherent yet philosophically insufficient when taken in isolation. The logical positivists’ principle of verification fails to account for non-empirical yet meaningful expressions of religious experience, while Wittgensteinian non-realist readings risk reducing religious language to expressive or regulative functions devoid of truth-claims. The paper contends that neither strict empiricism nor radical contextualism adequately captures the full semantic scope of religious discourse. Conversely, a mediating posture that integrates symbolic reference, communal usage, and rational evaluation is proposed, drawing insights from analogical and critical realist theories of religious language. The study concludes that religious language remains a legitimate subject of philosophical inquiry and requires interpretive models capable of sustaining both meaningful practice and claims to truth.

Clinical educators' perspectives on South Africa's transformed radiography curriculum.

Purpose This paper aims to advance an original intersubjective framework for data sovereignty governance. Grounded in constructivist concepts of shared understanding and critical realist principles of structure and agency, it moves beyond state-centric models to develop the concept of “interactive data sovereignty.” The study thereby offers a more robust theoretical and practical pathway for rebalancing power among states, platforms and individuals, contributing to a more equitable and effective global data governance. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a conceptual-theoretical methodology rooted in intersubjective and structural analysis. The approach reconstructs data sovereignty through an intersubjective lens, shifting it from a state-centric attribute to a relational status formed through multi-actor communication. It then integrates this perspective with a structural analysis of how power embeds within data architectures. The synthesis of these two lenses directly informs the interactive data sovereignty framework, deriving its core principles – interactivity, relativity and justice – and positioning data architecture as the central governance object. Findings This study reveals that governance of data architecture fundamentally shapes power relations in dataspace. The proposed model of interactive data sovereignty demonstrates how participatory mechanisms can rebalance asymmetric relationships, with multilateral institutionalized consultations emerging as the most effective approach for reconciling data circulation and protection imperatives. This framework successfully bridges theoretical insights with practical governance solutions. Originality/value This study pioneers the integration of intersubjectivity theory with data sovereignty, proposing the novel concept of interactive data sovereignty. It innovatively identifies data architecture as the core governance object and develops participatory architecture as practical solution, offering new theoretical frameworks for rebalancing digital power disparities.

In this article I explore what critical realist critical ethical naturalism offers degrowth. I briefly set out what degrowth seeks to achieve. I then move on to provide a short account of what critical ethical naturalism is a reaction to, before setting out a generic critical realist account. I then move on to discuss what it offers and some of the issues that may arise, illustrated using Andrew Collier's and Ted Benton's differences over intrinsic worth.

Purpose This study aims to investigate how Algorithmic Management (AM) within Sri Lanka’s PickMe ride-hailing platform shapes the ethical conduct, autonomy and professional agency of autorickshaw drivers. Drawing on MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics (MacIntyre, 2007), this research examines whether PickMe’s algorithmic governance fosters genuine ethical dispositions or primarily enforces compliance through digital control. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a qualitative case study design grounded in critical realism. Data was collected through 25 semistructured interviews with PickMe drivers, senior managers and one frequent customer. Using the GIOIA methodology, interview transcripts were coded to identify first-order concepts, second-order themes and aggregate dimensions related to algorithmic surveillance, nudging and ethical behavior. Findings The analysis reveals that PickMe’s algorithmic systems, particularly data surveillance, automated ratings and performance-based nudging, successfully promote professionalism and accountability among drivers. However, these same mechanisms constrain ethical agency by limiting transparency, reducing autonomy and embedding opaque decision-making processes into everyday work. Drivers experience both empowerment through structure and disempowerment through algorithmic opacity, reflecting broader tensions in gig economy labor governance. Originality/value This study contributes to emerging scholarship on AM by examining a South Asian ride-hailing platform that explicitly integrates ethical training with algorithmic oversight. It extends Gal et al. (2020) by demonstrating how algorithmic nudging and workplace datafication influence virtue cultivation in informal labor markets. The findings highlight the need for more transparent, participatory and ethically aligned algorithmic governance models.

ABSTRACT Background Educational access is key in empowering persons living with intellectual disabilities. Nevertheless, internationally, Persons with Intellectual Disabilities continue to experience marginalization and discrimination in accessing higher education. Methods This study undertakes a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of three programmes for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, located in higher education settings in Chile, Ireland and Australia. The project adopted a critical realist perspective focusing on its notions of reality as stratified and the pre‐existence of social forms influencing the shapes of programmes, their outputs and outcomes. Findings The analysis indicates that programmes may be embedded differently within universities allowing for different levels of stability. Enrollment in such programmes can also be advantageous to Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Awarding university‐endorsed certifications (Chile) or qualifications aligning with national standards (Ireland), upon programme completion, promote programme credibility and can justify costs associated with the programme. While university administrative efficiencies can facilitate inclusion they can also hinder the flexibility needed to cater to the varied range of needs of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Conclusions The SWOT analysis suggests that when universities adjust their academic environments, to be sensitive and inclusive of the needs of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, they have the capacity to assimilate and function with varying degrees of peer and staff support in such settings.

This article re-examines Paraja through feminist political ecology, Dalit feminist standpoint theory, and indigenous decolonial scholarship to argue that the novel encodes a gendered cartography of tribal dispossession. While frequently read as a realist critique of feudal exploitation, its gendered structures remain under-theorised. Drawing on intersectional feminist political ecology (Mollett & Faria, 2018; Nightingale, 2017; Sultana, 2020), Dalit feminist epistemology (Rege, 2016; Paik, 2018; Krishnan, 2022), and indigenous frameworks linking sovereignty to land (Whyte, 2018; Tuck & Yang, 2012/2018), this study demonstrates that tribal women’s labour, bodily vulnerability, and narrative marginalisation operate together to produce gendered subalternity. The article proposes a land–body– narrative triad as a critical framework for re-situating tribal women within Indian feminist literary historiography.

Contemporary societies increasingly operate within rhythmic regimes dominated by technical acceleration, algorithmic anticipation, and systemic optimization. These transformations fundamentally affect the conditions under which human agency, reflexivity, and meaning-generation remain possible. Drawing on the framework of critical realism, this article argues that the current crisis of meaning cannot be adequately explained solely through relational, cultural, or psychological diagnoses. Instead, it requires a reconstruction of the ontological conditions of agency itself. Building upon Margaret S. Archer’s morphogenetic model (T1-T4), the article introduces the concept of morphodynamics, extended by an axiological level designated as T0 (axiostructure). This level is not an additional phase of social change but an ontological condition of possibility for reflexivity and sense-generating action. The article further develops the notion of chrono-hope, understood as a rhythm of action grounded in ontological openness to the future rather than in technical predictability or adaptive coping. By integrating insights from critical realism, digital anthropology, and contemporary diagnoses of acceleration and fatigue, the article proposes a typology of agency that distinguishes adaptive, instrumental, emancipatory, blocked, and transcending forms of action. Empirical references to contemporary youth research are interpreted diagnostically as manifestations of suspended agency at the level of reflexive mediation (T2). The article concludes that hope, understood not as emotion but as an ontological structure, constitutes a necessary condition of meaning-generating agency in late modern digital societies. In this sense, the morphodynamics of transcendence provides an analytical framework for diagnosing the conditions and limits of agency in the contemporary crisis of meaning.

This study investigates the moral and aesthetic ideals in Charles Dickens’s novels, emphasizing the tension between human virtues and social constraints. Using critical realism, Dickens portrays characters whose simplicity, compassion, and ethical integrity are both affirmed and challenged by societal injustice, class divisions, and human weakness. Through the typology of “eccentric characters” and “honest gentlemen,” he constructs a complex moral universe: the former embody heartfelt devotion and humanity, while the latter combine intellect, social awareness, and ethical deliberation. Figures such as Joe (Great Expectations), Mr. Boffin (Our Mutual Friend), and John Harmon exemplify the interplay between personal virtue, social experience, and collective action. Dickens employs irony and narrative nuance to show both the strengths and limitations of human morality. Ultimately, his novels suggest that the realization of moral and aesthetic ideals requires not only individual virtue but also knowledge, social engagement, and communal solidarity, reflecting the ethical and social challenges of nineteenth-century England.

This article critically engages with the theoretical challenges of conceptualising the “migrant subject” in postcolonial India by tracing traditions of duality existing in the postcolonial development discourse. Through a synthesis of Kalyan Sanyal’s theorisation of postcolonial capitalism and Margaret Archer’s framework of critical realism, the paper describes the persistence of structural exclusion despite developmental inclusion and the everyday agency of the migrant worker. Sanyal’s capital–non-capital complex and the figure of the wasteland are deployed to rethink the logic of primitive accumulation and its reversal, while Archer’s concept of morphogenesis is introduced to reinstate the subjective agency of the flux migrant—an individual oscillating between exclusion and aspiration. The article presents two key conceptual interventions: flux migrants and reflexivity traps, offering a process-based model to account for migration instability in the absence of economic absorption. This model re-politicises the subject and attends to the relational ontology of late capitalist exclusion.

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to revisit the critical realist theory of reflexivity, derived from the pragmatist tradition of symbolic interactionism (SI). It discusses how interactionist sociology, with its emphasis on investigating microstructures through meaning‐making, has formed a critical realist theory of reflexivity that serves as a theoretical bridge between the micro and macro levels—specifically, between ‘subjective concerns’ and cultural and structural stability and change. The paper focuses on Margaret Archer's theory of reflexivity and internal conversation as a critical realist response to social constructionism, connecting it to SI, particularly through Herbert Blumer's framework. It proposes a holistic approach to studying reflexivity through human concerns. By underscoring the interconnection between SI methodology and the critical realist theory of reflexivity, the paper offers a triangulation of several qualitative methodological strategies to study reflexivity in a more rigorous manner while also providing a connection between the purely interpretive and the positivistic traditions.

Background: Up to 94% of Autistic people have sensory responsivity differences, associated with experiences that can range from being distressing to highly pleasurable. Despite the importance of live music in fostering social inclusion, many venues and events are not inclusive, creating barriers for Autistic people. Given the challenges Autistic people face in accessing live music events, our study aimed to explore their experiences to improve inclusivity, using a critical realism epistemological approach. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study with 16 Autistic adults aged 21–52 through online focus groups ( n = 13), individual interviews ( n = 1), and email exchanges ( n = 2), allowing for spoken or typed communication. Each focus group lasted 1 hour, and we analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis, following good practice guidelines. Results: We developed four main themes and two subthemes: (1) “This is a military operation”—Planning to manage uncertainty and overwhelm; (2) “Hating a crowd and loving a crowd at the same time”—Social connection; (3) The duality of an intense sensory environment; (3a) “The music, the vibrations bring out the colors … in my mind”—Immersive sensory joy; (3b) “My brain is screaming at me”—Sensory overload; and (4) “I think the biggest difference, always, is the staff”—Combating stigma and creating safe spaces. Conclusions: Our study highlights the positive and negative aspects of attending live music for Autistic people, offering actionable recommendations for inclusivity. Key suggestions include providing advance information, earplugs/quiet spaces, minimizing crowd exposure, and ensuring staff are trained to support Autistic attendees. These measures can help create accessible, enjoyable live music experiences, fostering social connections and reducing isolation for Autistic people.

Mechanisms of sustained mindfulness practice in stroke survivors: A critical realist secondary analysis of the HEADS: UP intervention.

"A never-ending cycle": The structural, economic and social (re)production of blood-borne virus transmission and bacterial infection amongst people who inject drugs in Queensland prisons.

Situated at the intersection of science fiction (SF) studies and Chinese studies, and more broadly of genre studies and area studies, this essay takes the work of contemporary Chinese SF writer Hao Jingfang as a starting point to address what the article's author considers a palpable disconnect in the contemporary reception and study of SF from the People's Republic of China (PRC). This disconnect, which has roots in the positionality of Chinese studies experts vis-à-vis the academic institutions and the field of studies in which they operate, has come to limit and regiment most discourses around the cultural phenomenon of “Chinese SF,” crystallized as it has become into fixed forms of descriptive praise and occasional critique that do not really attend to the political affordances of this genre. Ultimately, the goal of this intervention is to hold both “Chinese SF” and its scholarship up to the standards of literary representation to which they themselves so often appeal. If it is true that “China's reality is more science-fictional than SF” and that “SF is a type of critical realism,” then what must be thoroughly investigated is the linkage between this genre and the reality it lays claims on.