I'll be giving this year's keynote at #EATAW25 - alongside Suresh Canagarajah & Federico Navarro - on:

'AI Realism: Reclaiming the Human in AI-enhanced Academic Literacies' (cf abstract) {JM}
🤞
#PACEspace #AcWri #AcademicLiteracies #GenAI #CriticalRealism #OpenUniversity

www.eataw2025.com/keynote

After 16 years and 7 months I’ve finished Platform and Agency

I’ll do one more read through when it gets back from my proof reader, but the book I started in September 2008 with my PhD is now finished 👇

The virtue of the detraditionalisation thesis lay in its insistence on a meta-process, a change which exceeds empirical trends which can be measured. It provides, as Lundby (2009: 141) puts it, “a meta approach that makes it possible to integrate very different results of surveys and qualitative investigations into an overall coherent understanding”. The problems with the detraditionalisation thesis arose from the grandiose poetics which left it captivated by its own pronouncements about epochal change. For this reason I believe we ought to be as cautious as we can be about declaring an outcome to sociotechnical change, without dispensing with the recognition that there will be an outcome. If anything the vast investment in LLMs and the data infrastructure which supports them, intersecting with a post-pandemic political economy which appears to be leaving neoliberalism behind, heralds an intensification of change rather than a diminution (Tooze 2021, Varoufakis 2023). It’s possible this might be leading towards a perpetual polycrisis, a social order unable to stabilise itself amidst an accelerating climate catastrophe. But even this doom loop, suggested by Seymour’s (2024) notion of disaster nationalism, represents a social order of sorts, even if it’s an apocalyptic one. 

It is difficult to incorporate this horizon of crisis into our frame of reference without subordinating our analysis of the interaction phase through which it is being generated. However by  approaching platformisation through the concepts of psychobiography and personal morphogenesis, I have argued that we can avoid both grandiose (and premature) pronouncements about a ‘digital age’ and dismissive rejections of the reality of genuine change. The analysis I’ve offered of distracted people and fragile movements explores how platforms reconfigure rather than replace human agency. By examining how reflexivity operates within platformised contexts, tracing its biographical unfolding rather than proclaiming wholesale transformation, we gain a more textured understanding of contemporary social life. This has meant breaking with an account of agency premised, as Savage (2021: 191) puts it,  “on this ontological temporal difference between past, enduring structures, and a contemporary contingent agency that breaks from them”. Unless we can surrender this baggage, we are left with a meta-process defined through the falling away of the past, operationalising ‘tradition’ as that which is experiencing a decline and thus squeezing out continuities through definitional fiat. The problem is not an epochal horizon, as much as ontological assumptions which lead to the epistemic mistakes of pronouncing epochal change in a grandiose and premature manner. A realist conception of the platform can acknowledge its emerging status as a condition of our social existence, while remaining clear that is we who must decide what to make of it.

#biography #criticalRealism #epochalTheorising #personalMorphogenesis #PlatformAndAgency #platformStudies #socialChange #socialRealism

#bookReview; a new category of #blogs from #MoonLitPress! We review and recommend "To Travel Well, Travel Light" by Mary Coday Edwards. Edwards is at once a deep thinker and deeply spiritual. This extraordinary memoir recounts Edwards’ global quest for religious belonging.

https://blog.moonlitpress.org/To-Travel-Well-Travel-Light

#wordsByTerryl #bookwyrm #religion #sbnr
#writing
#SpiritualNotReligious
#CriticalRealism
#SurvivingChristianity
#JungianSpirituality
#JesusMovement

I liked this article for many reasons, including:

- it affords supervisors/ees a portal into #CriticalRealism

- it's written to build community through troublesome #ThresholdConcepts

Thinking like a critical realist: getting through the portal. Journal of Critical Realism https://doi.org/10.1080/14767430.2025.2458550

How did #CriticalRealism respond to Groff on truth?

[Since ditching FB, can't ask the CR community. Hoping someone here can help].

Groff, R. (2000). The Truth of the Matter: Roy Bhaskar’s Critical Realism and the Concept of Alethic Truth. Philosophy of the Social Sciences https://doi.org/10.1177/004839310003000304

@petersuber @academicchatter the journal of #CriticalRealism has a whole list, including bluesky and mastodon - not sure if this link takes you there but click on any recent article published JCR and the share options are huge: https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tandfonline.com%2F

A humanistic approach to #GAI:

"humans communicate on the basis of word-world relationships, [...] AI technologies [are] to word-word'

#AcWri
#ArtificialIntelligence
#CompositionStudies
#Humanities
#CriticalRealism
#WhatMakesWritingAcademic
#Emancipation
#AppliedLinguistics
#HigherEd

https://rdcu.be/d3AMw

New opportunity for independent critical realist researchers

Fixed Term Opportunities for Researchers without a Permanent Academic Affiliation: Associate Membership of the Centre for Critical Realism

The Centre for Critical Realism (CCR) is a small educational charity that aims to advance the education of the general public and practitioners in the study, research and application of critical realism. Its activities include acting as the Editorial Board for the Routledge Critical Realism Series and supporting the Critical Realism Network. We now intend to extend our activities by supporting a maximum of four researchers who use the metatheory of critical realism, through the creation of an associated membership category. The intention of this associate category is to provide a continuity of academic affiliation and practical support.

These are unpaid honorary positions with no requirement to carry out any specific activities and should not impact on any existing roles. Associate membership will run for a fixed term of three years from appointment.

The expected benefits of associated membership are:

• The Centre for Critical Realism is recognised as an academic affiliation. Associate members would be able choose to cite CCR as their academic affiliation when submitting papers to journals and conferences.
• Associated members can also choose to have an @criticalrealismnetwork.org email address.
• Academic/career mentoring advice will be available from CCR trustees and members.
• Financial support can be requested for attendance at specific conferences and research events.

Requirements of role

• To act in accordance with the aims and objectives of the charity
• To provide abstracts of any articles prior to submission and an annual update on career progression
• On the completion of the role, provide an evaluation report detailing how the CCR have assisted in their career development and recommendations for improvement.

Application Process

Candidates must have already obtained a PhD, have demonstratable evidence of using the metatheory of Critical Realism and currently lack a permanent academic affiliation (i.e are without an academic post or on a short term contract).

To apply, please submit an email to criticalrealismnetwork@gmail.com providing a current CV and answers to the following two questions:

1. What have you done to date that makes you a suitable candidate for associate membership? (500 words)
2. How do you expect to benefit from your time as an associate member? (500 words)

The CCR welcome applications from all countries. For an informal discussion on these roles please contact: Catherine Hastings (catherine.hastings@mq.edu.au) or Steve Ash (steve.ash@me.com)

The closing date for applications for this round of appointments is 1st February 2025.

#criticalRealism #independentResearchers

This article argues that #CriticalRealism
(CR) should develop its own theory of #AcademicWriting
because of CR’s explicit commitment to #HumanEmancipation
and #StratifiedOntology
[1/n]
#AcWri

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14767430.2024.2429225#abstract

"Said contends that words are not merely passive figures but vital agents in historical and political change"
#Humanism

#ExplanatoryCritique

#CriticalRealism

#Emancipation

#AcWri

#AppliedLinguistics

#SocioLinguistics

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/humanism-and-democratic-criticism/9780231122641

Just ordered, partly because I need definitions of #humanism
to reclaim humanity & reality in ways compatible with #CriticalRealism; partly because I need historical & intellectual solace - words, arguments, guidance, visions on how to be in #Academia

#SocialJustice

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/humanism-and-democratic-criticism/9780231122641

"A rational case for a critical realist theory of academic writing" has today been accepted for publication in the Journal of #CriticalRealism

Basically, #AcademicWriting
must be emancipatory, educative, committed to truth.

Hoaxes, #IELTS, #GAI
don't meet the criteria.

#AcWri
#ExplanatoryCritique

"one must assume not only that there is a way of determining [...], what a better world might look like, but also that there is a way for this ‘concrete utopian’ vision to become shared [...]"

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14767430.2019.1638133

#normativity #SocialJustice #MoralRealism #Democracy

#CriticalRealism

[furiously writing 'contractions' instead of 'contradictions' - someone somewhere is trying to tell me something] ✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽

#AcWri #CriticalRealism

How might we flourish in this crisis of modernity?

"While promoting a more loving world is a compelling reason to write a book, it is not why Love and the Market emerged."

#Love #CriticalRealism #AcWri (and 'bad' writing) #Witches #Capitalism #Marxism

https://criticalrealismnetwork.org/2024/10/10/can-a-critical-realist-conception-of-love-help-us-to-flourish-through-the-crises-of-modernity/

This is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in critical realism. It is friendly and accessible, while often hosting cutting edge discussions 👇

https://criticalrealismnetwork.org/2024/10/10/online-critical-realism-discussion-group/

https://markcarrigan.net/2024/10/11/online-critical-realism-discussion-group/

#criticalRealism #realism

Currently reading #AllAboutLove by #bellhooks

Linking it to #AcWri and #CriticalRealism

I'm reading moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre ('a short history of ethics' & 'after virtue').

I'm beginning to grasp why there are many references to him in #CriticalRealism.

He seems to be more of an aristotelian than platonist, so far, but I've got a fair amount to read before I can be sure.

I🧡Laurel Richardson's approach to academic writing generally and this, specifically, because of the focus on writer agency, choice, & the complexities of referring to the 'world' (or REALITY).

#AcWri
#AcademicLiteracies
#ResearchWriting
#AcademicChatter
#PhD
#ArtificialIntelligence
#CriticalRealism

Following our recent symposium we are inviting short blog posts (750-1500 words) reflecting on the intellectual legacy of Margaret Archer. These will be published on the Critical Realism Network blog. Here are some examples of themes these posts could address:

1. Archer’s Place in Sociological Theory:  the ways in which Archer’s ideas have been received, challenged, and transformed within the discipline. 
2. Archer’s Work within the Larger Dialogues of Critical Realism: the ways in which Archer’s ideas have contributed to and challenged the critical realist tradition. 
3. The Global Reception of Archer’s Work: the ways in which Archer’s ideas have been received, interpreted and adapted in different places. We want to explore both Archer’s role in the internationalization of British sociology, as well as the reception of her work in different countries of the Global North and Global South.
4. Archer’s Work Beyond Critical Realism: the ways in which Archer’s work has been influenced by and has influenced traditions, debates and issues beyond critical realism, such as pragmatism, moral philosophy and the philosophy of science.

We welcome submissions from scholars at all stages of their careers, including graduate students and early-career researchers. We also encourage interdisciplinary perspectives and contributions from scholars working in related fields, such as philosophy, anthropology, and political science.

If you’re interested in submitting a post, please contact Mark Carrigan with your idea initially.

https://markcarrigan.net/2024/08/08/%f0%9f%93%8dcall-for-blog-posts-the-legacy-of-margaret-archer/

#criticalRealism #margaretArcher #MorphogeneticApproach #socialMorphogenesis #socialRealism