Paul A. Lewis

Realism, Causality and the Problem of Social Structure

Recent debate over the merits of various realist perspectives on society, mostnotably the critical realist approach developed by Roy Bhaskar, has focused onthe ontological status of social structure. Social structure, critical realists maintain,is ontologically irreducible to people and their practices. This belief differentiatescritical realists from those theorists, such as Rom Harre, for whom social structureis immanent to people’s practices. On the latter view, structure is so intimatelybound up with agency that to accord the former a distinct ontological status wouldbe to reify it.Central to the debate is the issue of the causal efficacy of social structure.Critical realists contend that although social structure is unobservable it cannevertheless be known to be real because it makes a difference to observablehuman behaviour. In making this argument critical realists invoke the so-calledcausal criterion for existence, according to which unobservable entities can beknown to exist through their impact on observable events. The critique advancedby Harre and his supporters, most notably in Harre and Varela (1996), main-tains that an appeal to the causal criterion is illegitimate in the case of socialstructure, implying that critical realism’s claim that the social world containsontologically irreducible social structures cannot be sustained.My aim in this paper is to cast a critical eye over the debate betweenthe two varieties of realist social theory. To this end, having first outlined thebasic critical realist position together with Harre and Varela’s critique, thepaper will attempt to develop a critical realist response to the charges levelledagainst it. The objective of the response is twofold. First, it aims to advancethe debate by clarifying the key issues which divide the two perspectives andevaluating where the balance of the argument over these issues lies. Second,by suggesting how the weaknesses in critical realism highlighted by Harre andVarela might be dealt with, the hope is that the paper will prompt critical realists

Metaphor and Critical Realism

Advocates of critical realism often refer to the importance of “the logic of analogy and metaphor’ for the development of scientific theories. However, critical realists have failed to provide a detailed account of the part that metaphor plays in scientific theorizing. It is argued that such an account reveals that metaphor is integral to science, as understood by critical realists, serving both to provide suggestions of scientific models and a theoretical vocabulary in terms of which scientists can structure and so understand their subject matter.

Transforming economics : perspectives on the critical realist project

1. Transforming Economics? On Heterodox Economics and the Ontological Turn in Economic Methodology 2. Transforming Post Keynesian Economics: Critical Realism and the Post Keynesian Project 3. Macroeconomic Theory, (Critical) Realism and Capitalism 4. Critical Realism and Transformational Growth 5. Critical Realism and Econometrics: An Econometricians Viewpoint 6. Critical Realism and Feminist Economics: How well do they get along? 7. The Agency-Structure Model and the Embedded Individual in Heterodox Economics 8. Critical Realism and the Heterodox Tradition in Economics 9. Economics as Social Theory and the New Economic Sociology 10. The Really Real in Economics 11. Addressing the Critical and the Real in Critical Realism 12. Economics as Symptom 13. The Economics of Institutions and the Institutions of Economics 14. A Note on Critical Realism, Scientific Exegesis and Schumpeter 15. Tranforming Methodology: Critical Realism and Recent Economic Methodology

Agency, Structure and Causality in Political Science: A Comment on Sibeon

Researchers in political science are devoting increasing attention to the ontological commitments of their theories – that is, to what those theories presuppose about the nature of the political world. This article focuses on a recent contribution to this ‘ontological turn’ in political science (Sibeon, 1999). Tensions are identified in Sibeons account of the causal interplay between agency and social structure. It is argued that these tensions can be resolved by reflecting explicitly on ontological issues, in particular the causal efficacy of social structure, using a particular approach to the philosophy of the social sciences known as critical realism. The value of such reflection for the explanatory power of political analysis is highlighted.

Educational and contractual attributes of the apprenticeship programmes of large employers in Britain

The authors consider two quality‐related aspects of large employers’ apprenticeship programmes. The first is their contribution to national educational objectives, including the creation and strengthening of ladders of vocational attainment. Such ladders already exist in apprenticeship’s traditional domains, but the prospects for their wider development appear unfavourable. Few employers support an increase in the educational contribution of apprenticeship, whether technical or general, even in sectors in which that contribution is currently minimal. The second issue is the extent of the employer’s responsibility for its apprenticeship programme, which is often seen as important for training quality. No simple relationship is present across employers and sectors between the outsourcing of programme components and such attributes as apprentice recruitment, apprentice status and the employer’s investment in each apprentice. Within traditional sectors, however, sponsorship by a large employer means a substantially greater investment in each apprentice than that by a specialist training provider.

A hard sell? The prospects for apprenticeship in British retailing

We consider the prospects for apprenticeship in British retailing, in terms of the contribution of apprenticeship to intermediate skills and the contribution of large employers to the Advanced Apprenticeship (AA) programme. Evidence is taken from interviews with training and HR managers from 17 large employers. We find that AA is for the most part unpopular with large retailers, who prefer to acquire intermediate skills through the upgrade training of existing employees through bespoke, in-house training programmes and, to a lesser degree, via the recruitment of skilled workers. The one exception to this rule is to be found in the convenience stores sub-sector of retailing, where the breadth of skills supplied by AA fits in well with employers’ requirements. Even here, however, the scale of Apprenticeship is limited, both in terms of the numbers of Apprentices being trained and also in terms of employers’ own investment in the training of their Apprentices.

Who Cares About Skills? The Impact and Limits of Statutory Regulation on Qualifications and Skills in Social Care

This article examines the impact of statutory regulation on qualifications and skills in the social care sector in the UK. It draws on various sources and a set of case studies, first carried out in 2003 and replicated in 2008. The analysis shows that the advent of the statutory regime has had a positive effect on the volume of training and qualifications in the sector. However, few organizations have combined training with a broader set of human resource management practices of the kind required for the establishment of a high‐performance work system. This constitutes one of the continuing limits to further skill development. Changes in the regulatory regime risk losing benefits that have been gained.

Structure, Agency and Causality in Post-Revival Austrian Economics: Tensions and Resolutions

Abstract This paper aims to illustrate the benefits that accrue from critical realisms sustained, explicit reflection about ontological issues. The paper pursues this aim by examining the work of radical subjectivist Austrian economists as it has developed since the post-1974 revival in the fortunes of the Austrian school, focusing in particular on their account of the generation of socio-economic order in decentralized market economies. Ambiguities and tensions can be discerned in the radical subjectivist account of the causal forces at work in the market process. It is argued that the conceptual resources required for resolving those tensions and ambiguities are to be found in critical realism. The final section of the paper draws out some of the broader implications of the suggested resolution for radical subjectivist Austrian economics.

Structure and Agency in Economic Analysis: The Case of Austrian Economics and the Material Embeddedness of Socio-economic Life

The Elgar Companion to Economics and Philosophy aims to demonstrate exactly how these two important areas have always been linked, and to illustrate the key areas of overlap. The contributors are well-known and distinguished authors from a variety of disciplines, who have been invited both to survey and to provide a personal assessment of current and prospective future states of their respective areas of philosophical interest.

Colloidal gold natural lithography technique for fabricating GaAs nanopillars

Abstract A colloidal gold natural lithography technique for fabricating GaAs nanopillars was investigated. The formation of colloidal gold etch masks on GaAs substrates with an amino silane adhesion agent was studied. The fabrication of high-density sub-30 nm diameter high aspect ratio GaAs nanopillars using gold colloids as an etch mask for SiCl 4 /Ar based reactive ion etching has been demonstrated. The pillars’ dimensions and profile are controlled both by the initial colloid diameter and the etching conditions. Finally, the removal of the gold colloids from the nanopillars has been achieved using wet etching.