Realist Account Research Articles

What work does 'contamination' do? An agential realist account of oil wastewater and radium in groundwater.

Oil wastewater often contains high levels of radium, a carcinogenic and radioactive element. This article closely engages with two investigations of radium in groundwater downstream from oil wastewater storage pits. While one investigation found that radium did not travel beyond the storage pits, the other found evidence of elevated radium some two kilometers downstream. With an agential realist analysis, we resolve these differences, showing that these two experimental apparatuses defined and mobilized two different phenomena of radium, and of radium-as-contaminant. What geologists call 'rock-water interactions' are materially meaningful intra-actions. Far from being a mere philosophical gloss on otherwise conventional science, the 'intra-' signifies that, in these processes, the sediment and the groundwater are bringing each other into being. Groundwater sampling entails a specific set of intra-actions with the subsurface that enact different agential cuts. In addition, a geochemical focus on objects, rather than relations, also constrains understandings of chemical harm and accountability. These concepts do not only affect experimental apparatuses; rather, they come into being through and with each other. Therefore, rigorous approaches to groundwater and remediation do not lie in the pull to reify individual groundwater constituents, or to arbitrate between 'contaminant' and 'contaminated'. Rather, rigorous approaches lie in the role of chemical relations in constituting specific groundwater phenomena. We elaborate three aspects of these relations: the constitution of radium-as-isolated-element through the ontological work of sampling schema, the formation of scale and attendant spacetimematterings within experimental apparatuses, and the work of contamination logics within conceptualizations of chemical harm. This analysis has major implications for understanding the potential harm of oil wastewater to groundwater.

Emperor Hundun’s misty music: a Daoist/agential realist account of sound

ABSTRACT This paper advocates for a focus on non-clarity and indeterminacy in Sound Studies. This idea is pursued pursuing with reference to two diverse paradigms: Daoism, in particular the writings of Zhuangzi, and agential realism, a material framework first put forward by Karen Barad in Meeting the Universe Halfway. Following Zhuangzi’s enigmatic parable of Emperor Hundun closely, this paper argues that by the very materiality of sound and our position within its becoming, listening is a creative practice which is deeply entangled with and co-constitutive of an indeterminate ontology of sound. Such an entanglement necessitates a recognition of listening as ethics-doing, enjoining us to account for the human as a co-constitutive (yet never primary) part of the materiality of sound-making, doing, and listening.

A Realist Evaluation of a "Whole Health" Response to Domestic Violence and Abuse in the UK.

Health Pathfinder is a multilevel system change intervention initiated to transform the health response to domestic violence and abuse in eight sites in England. The current study drew upon interviews with health professionals (n = 27) and victim-survivors (n = 20) to provide a realist account of how this intervention achieved its goals. Findings show that five change mechanisms explain why Health Pathfinder was effective as an ecological intervention: awareness, expertise, relationships, empowerment, and evidence. Positive progress in respect of each mechanism had meaningful impacts on victim-survivor experiences of enquiry, disclosure, and uptake of services and had the potential to meaningfully impact health inequities.

Should we worry about conspiracy theorists rejecting experts?

ABSTRACT Concerns have been raised by both researchers and authorities regarding conspiracy theorists rejecting experts. To address the validity of these concerns, we need to delve into two key inquiries regarding who qualifies as an expert on conspiracy theories, and what constitutes an epistemically rational response (from a conspiracy theorist) when faced with expert testimony. The first inquiry presents a challenge when considering a reputationalist versus a realist account of experts. On the reputationalist account rejecting experts may be viewed as little more than rejecting those whom society has collectively deemed as experts. Alternatively, adopting a realist account raises the challenge of determining who the genuine experts are. I argue that the realist account is the more compelling option for pursuing the first question. Moreover, I explore two prevalent accounts from existing literature that prescribe how epistemic agents should respond to expert testimony: the Preemptive View and the Community View. Through an examination using the simulation program Laputa, I demonstrate that both accounts are insufficient. Consequently, I argue that without a clear identification of experts in the broader context of conspiracy theories, the initial concern lacks a solid foundation, and the sense of urgency may be unwarranted.

Western-Centric Moments in Homegrown IR Theories: Dependency, Chinese and African Schools

The modern international system has been shaped by long-standing historical
 practices of unequal power relations, which have positioned the Western world
 at the center of the political universe. Due to the centrality of the Global North
 in the international system, any IR theory that aims to portray a true picture
 of the “globe” necessarily situates the West at the center of scientific inquiry.
 Furthermore, the form of universality generated by Western hegemony has
 been diffused throughout the world over centuries, spreading Western political
 institutions, economic structures, and ideological norms in an uneven setting.
 As a result, the social structures of the Global South have developed through an
 uneven form of relationship and dialectical interaction with the West. Therefore,
 homegrown IR theories, which uncover local political, philosophical, or cultural
 motives as sources for theory-making, in fact, concentrate on stratified forms of
 the universal reality that is diffused through the uneven spread of Western social
 structures. In this sense, there is a Western-centric moment in any homegrown
 IR theory. Accordingly, this article develops a scientific realist account of the
 structure/agent relationship in order to analyze the material grounds of Westerncentrism
 in the field of international politics and to evaluate the role of non-
 Western actors. Additionally, it critically evaluates distinctive homegrown
 theories produced on three different continents to reveal the aforementioned
 Western-centric moments in these theoretical initiatives. Namely, the Dependency
 School of Latin America, the Chinese School of International Relations, and the
 African School are respectively scrutinized to disclose the embedded Westerncentrism
 in these theoretical initiatives

Who Are You Really? A Philosopher’s Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Persons

Who Are You Really? A Philosopher’s Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Persons

Knowledge and Music Education: A Social Realist Account - Knowledge and Music Education: A Social Realist Account by Graham J. McPhail . Routledge, 2023. Hbk, 256pp, £130. ISBN: 9781032292519.

Knowledge and Music Education: A Social Realist Account - Knowledge and Music Education: A Social Realist Account by Graham J. McPhail . Routledge, 2023. Hbk, 256pp, £130. ISBN: 9781032292519.

Sociomateriality and the metaphysics of accounting information systems: Revisiting agential realism

This paper is a response to Weber’s (2020) call for further debate on the (potential) contribution of agential realism for the understanding of the content and functioning of accounting information systems (AIS) (Weber, 2020). Contrary to Weber’s conclusions, we suggest that agential realism can make important contributions to AIS studies. In order to realize such contributions we have to acknowledge that agential realism is a metaphysical framework rather than a theory or epistemology. Its potential contributions should be set against the potential contributions stemming from the metaphysical framework that is dominant in AIS research: representationalism. In representationalism, for the purpose of creating a knowledge base for a distant ‘knower’ who acts on the basis of such knowledge, accounting information systems are assumed to represent or provide information about a reality that is ‘out there’. In agential realism, accounting is assumed to be performative in (re)configuring local and temporal boundaries between meaningful positions for humans and non-humans. Rather than putting the human subject (the knower) at the centre of the stage, an agential realist account of accounting foregrounds accounting practices in their interrelation with other practices. It acknowledges that accounting participates in the (re)configuring of a sociomaterial world.

A Realist Membership Account of Political Obligation

The paper offers a realist account of political obligation. More precisely, it offers an account that belongs to the Williamsian liberal strain of contemporary realist theory (as opposed to a Geussian radical realist strain) and draws on and expands some ideas familiar from Bernard Williams’s oeuvre (thick/thin ethical concepts, political realism/moralism, a minimal normative threshold for distinctively political rule). Accordingly, the paper will claim that the fact of membership in a polity provides people with sufficient reason for complying with those political authority claims whose source is that particular polity. The paper will explain that membership in a polity is constituted not by communitarian identification (Horton), nationhood (Tamir), joined commitment/plural subjectivity (Gilbert), but by the fact that people are stably exposed to political authority claims associated with a particular polity which they find making sense as passing the minimal normative threshold for a distinctively political form of rule (as opposed to the rule of terror or sheer coercion). This political-ethical phenomenon is widely known as political obligation but the paper will argue that the label is in fact a misnomer because it does not refer to a generic obligation. The implications of this account are manifold but two seem especially important: first, the notion of political obligation makes sense even beyond the realm of moralist political theory and, second, realist political theory should pay more attention to the problem of compliance than it used to do.

Realist dependence and irrealist butterflies

In this paper, I argue that a realist account of the modality of moral supervenience is superior to a non-cognitivist account. According to the recommended realist account, moral supervenience amounts to strong supervenience where the outer ‘necessary’ is conceptual and the inner metaphysical. It is argued that non-cognitivism faces a critical choice between weak and strong supervenience where both options are implausible on this view. However, non-cognitivism seems to have an important advantage: It can explain why the outer ‘necessary’ is conceptual by reference to the function of moral language to influence behaviour. In the main part of the paper, I argue that realism is able to explain why ‘necessary’ in moral supervenience needs to be understood in the recommended manner by reference to the connection between moral properties and moral reasons. Moreover, I argue that the realist account has other attractive features. In contrast to non-cognitivism, it can unify the normative sphere by being generalizable to other normative notions. In addition, it can be part of an explanation of why moral language can have the function to influence behaviour.

The Wages of Crying Roe: Some Realism About Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

The U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization cannot be taken seriously. The Court’s stated ra-tionale for rejecting continued protection of the abortion right—that abortion is not deeply rooted in nineteenth century history and tradi-tion—applies with equal force to other substantive due process rights that the Dobbs Court repeatedly insisted were not under threat even without considering stare decisis, including contraception, sexual inti-macy between consenting adults, and same-sex marriage. One should add inter-racial marriage and protection from involuntary sterilization to that list. Rather than applying its draconian version of the “history and tradition” test in a principled fashion, the Court decided the case based upon moral opposition to abortion and a failure to appreciate that abortion bans old and new are also shaped by gender bias, not just by concerns for fetal life. Further evidence for this realist account of the Court’s decision can be found in the Dobbs Court’s disregard of self-restraint both procedurally and in the opinion-writing process. It is not going too far to charge the Court with having acted lawlessly. A future Court will readily be able to explain why it is overruling Dobbs.

Perception in Plato’s Heaven?

American critical realism was defended in two versions, an “essentialist” and an “empirical.” The main proponent of the essentialist version was George Santayana, who in his Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923) outlined a critical realist account of epistemology based substantially on an articulate doctrine of essences. In the present paper, an attempt is made to critically examine the resulting approach, particularly in relation to perception. It will be argued that Santayana failed to develop a sufficiently convincing essentialist view of perception, and that his actual significance in terms of the impact of the critical realist movement was, contrary to what is often claimed, quite limited.

The ontology of epidemics-A value-dependent realist account of epidemics.

Charters and Heitman have recently argued that epidemic status is lost once the disease becomes 'accepted into people's daily lives and routines, becoming endemic-domesticated-and accepted'. This is a normativist, subjectivist approach to epidemic classification; that is, it is both value-laden, and dependent on the attitudes of the population. In this article, we argue for an alternative approach: a value-dependent realist account of epidemic-status. We aim to provide an ontological account of epidemics, with a particular focus on their endings. We do not attempt to present a historical account of previous epidemics, or why their endings were declared, but rather consider the theoretical underpinnings of such declarations. Further, our account is meant to be more prescriptive than descriptive; that is to say, even if public health does not currently view epidemics in the manner we advocate, the metaphysic of epidemics we advocate is, we believe, that which public health should ultimately endorse. The methodologies employed in this article are primarily those common to the philosophy of public health, philosophy of medicine and metaphysics; namely, conceptual analysis grounded by practical considerations. Charters and Heitman have recently argued that epidemic status is lost once the disease becomes 'accepted into people's daily lives and routines, becoming endemic-domesticated-and accepted'. This is a normativist, subjectivist approach to epidemic classification; that is, it is both value-laden, and dependent on the attitudes of the population. In this article, we argue for an alternative approach: a value-dependent realist account of epidemic-status. To frame the argument we draw from complexity theory, arguing that human populations can be viewed as complex systems, and epidemic-status as an emergent property of a complex system. We propose aggregating the normative standards relevant to labeling a disease as an epidemic, and use this as our indicator for both the beginning, and the end of epidemics. An epidemic ends, we argue, once the burden of disease drops below an objective but distinctly normative 'epidemic threshold'.

Victorian Skin: Surface, Self, History

Victorian Skin: Surface, Self, History

Taking the Longer View: A Neoclassical Realist Account of Russia’s Neighbourhood Policy

This essay complements the other contributions to this special issue by placing Russia’s neighbourhood policy into a broader temporal and theoretical perspective. It shows that Russia’s political elite during the last three decades has been largely united behind the goal of establishing a Moscow-centred regional security order. Yet, despite this broad-based consensus, Russia’s policy in the former Soviet area has varied markedly across time and space. To account for this pattern, the essay develops and tests a neoclassical realist approach that explains why, how and when major powers such as Russia pursue regional primacy.

Rwanda’s Military Deployments in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Neoclassical Realist Account

ABSTRACT The Rwanda Defence Force recently staged military operations against insurgents in Mozambique and the Central African Republic. Both actions were performed outside regional or multinational efforts. This makes the contemporary actions of Rwanda outliers in the international relations of Sub-Saharan Africa and heralds shifts in conflict management on the continent. An explanation is found in the application of neoclassical realist theory to the case of Rwanda – a first – as the country’s leaders have taken advantage of a permissive strategic environment, high clarity, leaders’ beliefs and a strategic culture to produce the output of extra-regional military deployments.

Towards a critical realist theory of labour market information

Despite the importance of Labour Market Information (LMI) to career practice, there is a surprising lack of theory that focuses on LMI and how it supports career guidance. Building on previous work, especially by Staunton and Rogosic (2021), this paper will argue for a move toward a critical realist account of LMI that sees it as historically and politically positioned, rather than objectively verifiable on its own terms. This opens up new possibilities for how career practitioners can make use of LMI and fresh avenues for theory and research.

Are Biological Traits Explained by Their ‘Selected Effect’ Functions?

ABSTRACT The selected effects or ‘etiological’ theory of Proper function is a naturalistic and realist account of biological teleology. It is used to analyse normativity in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of medicine, and elsewhere. The theory has been developed with a simple and intuitive view of natural selection. Traits are selected because of their positive effects on the fitness of the organisms that have them. These ‘selected effects’ are the Proper functions of the traits. Proponents argue that this analysis of biological teleology has the unique advantage that the selected effect function of a trait is also a causal explanation of the trait: the trait exists because it performs this function. We show, however, that selected effect functions as currently defined explain the existence of traits only under highly restrictive assumptions about evolutionary dynamics. In many common scenarios in which traits evolve by natural selection, selected effect functions do not explain those traits. This is because definitions of selected effect function extract from any evolutionary scenario only the information that would be explanatorily relevant in the simple evolutionary scenario implicit in those definitions. When applied to more complex scenarios, selected effect functions omit the key information that is explanatorily relevant in those scenarios. The assumptions required for selected effect functions to be explanatory are particularly unlikely to hold in the domain that its proponents care most about—the evolution of representation. A more adequate selected effects theory of Proper functions may be possible, but will require much greater attention to the structure of actual evolutionary explanations.

Thomas Aquinas and Contemplation by Rik Van Nieuwenhove, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021, pp. viii + 220, £65.00, hbk

Thomas Aquinas and Contemplation by Rik Van Nieuwenhove, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021, pp. viii + 220, £65.00, hbk

Navigating the complexities of (trans) gender equality rights within the parameters of reasonable accommodation and security tensions in South African prisons: The judgement of September v Subramoney

Within the heterogenous global prison population of about 11.7 million, transgender prisoners have unique vulnerabilities and are exposed to substantial risks and harm. Their situation has been viewed as a ‘‘double punishment’’ by encompassing the system lack of gender recognition and exposure to traumatic experiences of detention often tantamount to torture. In Africa, sexual minority rights remain a contentious issue, and there is little documented about the situation of incarcerated transgender people.South Africa is one of the most progressive African countries in terms of equality legislation and advancing the rights of sexual and gender minorities. A legal realist review was conducted of the 2019 South African Equality Court judgement of September v Subramoney, based on case decisions and by scrutinizing the international and regional human rights protections and rights assurance mechanisms which encompass the fundamental rights of detained transgender individuals. These are not limited to protection from custodial violence, prohibition of torture and discrimination but include conditions of accommodation, right to express their gender identity and access to gender affirming healthcare. The subsequent legal realist account critiques the impact of this judgement based on extant published literature (empirical, humanitarian, and UN Committee reporting) and jurisprudence in other jurisdictions cognisant of increasing strategic litigation in the field of transgender rights. The implications of this ground-breaking judgement are considered, with a particular lens focusing on the rights of trans-prisoners (particularly trans-women as most vulnerable) to equality, but also dignity, freedom of expression, dignified detention, and the prohibition of inhumane treatment or punishment. These rights are positioned within the boundaries of safe and reasonable accommodation, ability to gender express and prison system capacity to deal with security tensions in high risk cis-normative detention environments.