Alderson, P; (2012) Key concepts in critical realism, economics and childhood. In: (Proceedings) Creating the economy for the 21st and 22nd centuries. Green Economics Institute

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Abstract

Critical realism, a philosophy of the natural and social sciences and a tool kit for researchers, was developed in the 1970s by Roy Bhaskar and colleagues. Recently, more social scientists have been applying critical realism to a wide range of topics, such as David Tyfield’s work on the economics of science (Routledge 2012) and my book on childhood (Routledge April 2013). I aim to explain key critical realist concepts in clear terms, which practical social researchers can apply to their work. Critical realism can help to clarify uncertainties, resolve confusions and disagreements among social researchers, and strengthen the validity of their work. The concepts I will outline and relate to childhood and economics include: being and knowing; transitive and intransitive; the semiotic triangle; the possibility of naturalism; closed and open systems; natural necessity in natural and in social science; power1 and power2; four planar social being; absence and change.

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