The Centre for Critical Realism (CCR) was established as a charitable trust in November 1996 with the general aim of supporting and promoting activities, both theoretical and practical, concerned with the development of realist social theory and philosophy. Today the… Read More »Call for applications to join the Board of the Centre for Critical Realism
Varieties of Realism, Varieties of Critical Realism? This year’s annual conference of the International Association for Critical Realism will be held at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. Pre-Conference: July 27 – July 29, 2026Conference: July… Read More »IACR 2026 call for papers issued
Michael C. Leach Department of Public Law & Governance, Tilburg Law School, 2021 Download from repository Abstract Since the mid-1990s, the ‘Rule of Law’ as been recognized as being a dominant conceptual frame for legal and governance reform work in… Read More »A kaleidoscope of meaning fragments: Understanding the rule of law’s paradoxes in international development
Sarah Bates Evoy (sarah.bates-evoy@setu.ie, website) South East Technological University, Ireland, 2024 Download from repository Abstract The thesis is a largely empirical study of the professional identities of education and training practitioners whose activities were brought into a new sector of… Read More »Practitioner Identities and Sector Reform in Contemporary Further Education and Training in Ireland
Richard Remelie (r.remelie@mmu.ac.uk, website) Manchester Metropolitan University, 2024 Download from repository Abstract Underpinned by the philosophy of Critical Realism, this thesis provides new ways to explain differences in student experiences of university. It achieves this by presenting quantitative evidence of… Read More »Why do people go to university and why does it matter? Understanding differences in student experiences via a quantitative analysis of student reflexivity and student motivations
Andreas Vavvos (vavvosandreas@gmail.com) Department of Psychology, University of Crete & Department of Social Anthropology, University of Saint Andrews, 2025 Download from repository Abstract Guided by two core questions, this dissertation undertakes an exploratory journey into the dialogical dynamics of knowledge… Read More »The Pulse of Dialogue: Explaining Opposition to Energy Policies in Western Macedonia and Crete
Marc BoswardUniversity of the Arts London, 2022 Download from repository Abstract In the early 20th century, the techniques of collage and film montage were linked with the cultural production of political radicalism. The assemblage of new wholes from existing parts… Read More »Realist Collage: Non-fiction Film Practice Addressing the History and Identity of ‘Welsh Wales’ through Critical Realism, Found Footage and Animation
Tiyana Jovanovic (website) University of Queensland / Indian Institute Technology Delhi, 2025 Download from repository Abstract This doctoral thesis challenges the dominant modernist paradigm in development thinking and practice, offering a novel conceptualisation of empowerment that transcends the limitations of… Read More »An explanatory empowerment theory for resilient development: a critical realist case study of women’s empowerment through ICT4D in the Indian Context
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer (website) University of Reading (Henley Business School), 2022 Download from repository Abstract This thesis explores unintended consequences resulting from the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology systems. It does this through a Critical Realist (CR) lens, which… Read More »Developing a framework for understanding sociotechnical routes to unintended consequences in Internet of Things (IoT) systems: A case study of an IoT parking solution in a Smart City
Erica Koopmans (erica.koopmans@alumni.unbc.ca) University of Northern British Columbia, 2025 Download from repository Abstract This dissertation explores the complex and layered phenomenon of care coordination for young children and their families experiencing adversity in a rural primary health care setting. Despite… Read More »Understanding care coordination across primary health care services in a rural context for young children and their families experiencing adversity: A critical realist case study