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Towards a critical realist epistemology?

dc.contributor.authorAlbert, Katelin
dc.contributor.authorBrundage, Jonah Stuart
dc.contributor.authorSweet, Paige
dc.contributor.authorVandenberghe, Frédéric
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-01T23:29:43Z
dc.date.availableWITHHELD_12_MONTHS
dc.date.available2020-10-01T23:29:43Z
dc.date.issued2020-09
dc.identifier.citationAlbert, Katelin; Brundage, Jonah Stuart; Sweet, Paige; Vandenberghe, Frédéric (2020). "Towards a critical realist epistemology?." Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 50(3): 357-372.
dc.identifier.issn0021-8308
dc.identifier.issn1468-5914
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/162717
dc.description.abstractWhen critical realists consider epistemology they typically start from “epistemological relativism.” We find this position necessary, but we also find it insufficient because it lacks a critique of the highly unequal social relations among observers themselves—relations that shape the very production of knowledge. While it is indeed the case that all knowledge is fallible, it is also the case that all knowledge is positioned, with a particular standpoint. What is more, the social power relations between standpoints organize the production of truth in ways that produce systematic distortions. In this paper, we propose a critical realist social epistemology. We introduce feminist standpoint theory and postcolonial theory as our suggested interventions into critical realism and we use two case studies of existing work to highlight i) the social production of truth and the real, and ii) what is at stake for radicalizing epistemology in critical realism. In so doing, our paper emphasizes the epistemic complexities that continuously shape ontology, a commitment to subaltern voices or experiences, and a thorough interrogation of the relations between positions of knowledge production.
dc.publisherRoutledge
dc.publisherWiley Periodicals, Inc.
dc.subject.otherstandpoint theory
dc.subject.othercritical realism
dc.subject.otherepistemology
dc.subject.otherontology
dc.subject.otherpostcolonial theory
dc.titleTowards a critical realist epistemology?
dc.typeArticle
dc.rights.robotsIndexNoFollow
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelSociology
dc.subject.hlbtoplevelSocial Sciences
dc.description.peerreviewedPeer Reviewed
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162717/2/jtsb12248_am.pdfen_US
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162717/1/jtsb12248.pdfen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/jtsb.12248
dc.identifier.sourceJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour
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dc.owningcollnameInterdisciplinary and Peer-Reviewed


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