An increasing number of scholars have employed the critical realist concept of norm circles in empirical research. Norm circles are social structures, composed of human agents, that tend to encourage...

Join events to discuss development and application of complex adaptive systems theory to make sense of and to influence the emergence of futures.

Explore our thesis archive featuring critical realist scholars' doctoral theses, aiding your research in social studies and methodology.

Former president sought to ‘annihilate’ country’s democracy after losing 2022 election

Ontological universalism is widespread, but this paper argues that the validity of many ontological claims is bounded, and thus that segmented (though not fragmented) ontologies may represent the worl...

We must stop mega-donors from warping our democracy. A ban on annual donations over £5,000 would cut the influence of big donors on our politics and protect the interests of ordinary voters.

YouTube video by Critical Realism Network

It is ridiculously easy to create a company, and company law is there to protect us. But nobody is policing it. Why not?

Karin Zotzmann’s Codes of Corruption: A Critical Realist Discourse Analysis of Illicit Transactions (2025) is the latest exciting book in Routledge’s Critical Realism book series. The C…

The Centre for Critical Realism is hosting this online book launch on May 14th 2025 at 2.30pm BST.

Netanyahu wants Hamas to allow for release of hostages without troop withdrawal, in plan Israel says came from US

Ted Benton has had a long and distinguished career and made important contributions in realist philosophy, ecology and Marxism. In part 1 of this wide-ranging interview he discusses his formative y...

This is a live page of all the redundancies, restructures, reorganisations, and closures taking place across the sector at the moment. Solidarity to all. This sector is vital to the country’s…

This is a response to Cristián Navarrete and Tom Fryer's recent paper on contextual emergence and critical realism. Their paper raises some stimulating challenges to critical realist accounts of emer...

First-time publicly traded companies pay out more than privately held rivals since privatisation

A devolution white paper will restructure councils and hand significant planning powers to mayors.

Companies say higher returns are needed to ensure record infrastructure investment across industry is delivered

YouTube video by Economic Sociology and Political Economy

This is a response to Cristián Navarrete and Tom Fryer's recent paper on contextual emergence and critical realism. Their paper raises some stimulating challenges to critical realist accounts of emer...