Critical Realism and Concrete Utopias

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8097452
AutoresMelanie S Archer (0000-0002-4632-775X, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, autor correspondente), Margaret S Archer (Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK)
Ano2019
Volume18
Fascículo3
Páginas239-257
Data de publicação2019-05-27
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Critical Realism (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1476-7430 • E-ISSN: 1572-5138
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14767430.2019.1619428
OpenAlexW2947158685
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas19
Referências citadas38

The role of Concrete Utopias in the works of Roy Bhaskar are contrasted with the ‘Real Utopias’ of Erik Olin Wright. Critical Realism treats them as ‘possibilities’ that are real because realizable. Conversely, to Wright, they are extrapolations of existing social forms whose future combination could result in socialism. As such, Bhaskar's philosophical contribution is supplemented by the Morphogenic Approach (Archer) developed for use in the social sciences. ‘Real Utopias’ are considered to be necessarily Actualist, thus limiting future change in social forms to those that already exist, despite transformation being ‘activity dependent’. Critical Realism attaches more importance to structural and cultural constraints and to agential ingenuity in transforming them. In short, Real Utopias are realistic rather than real though preferable to existing social formations, whilst Concrete Utopias allow for new novelty, such as de-growth, giving hope for reshaping global society

Art · Art history · Critical realism (philosophy of perception · Epistemology · Ingenuity · Limiting · Novelty · Political science · Realism · Sociology · Utopia · Wright · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Philosophy