Morphogenesis Answers Its Critics

Counterposes Margaret S. Archer's Structure, Agency and Culture theorizing with the popular 'Problem of Structure and Agency'.

Margaret S. Archer (Author)

9781009405454, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 July 2025

232 pages
27 x 18 x 1.6 cm, 0.342 kg

'For over two decades now, Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach to social explanation has sparked great interest but also opposition from different quarters. In this spirited volume, Archer responds to each of her major critics, making for a lively engagement that advances the conversation for both critics and supporters of the morphogenetic approach. Thus, for all engaged in the approach, whether pro or con, this statement is must reading.' Douglas Porpora, Professor of Sociology, Drexel University

In this final book by renowned sociologist Margaret S. Archer, her groundbreaking morphogenetic approach is defended, refined and extended through a series of engagements with her critics. Archer, a pioneer of critical realism, addresses key debates surrounding her work on structure, agency, and social change. Each chapter responds to critiques from a different scholar, using these exchanges as springboards to further develop her powerful explanatory framework. Through these lively dialogues, Archer elaborates her tools for analysing social and cultural dynamics. This book offers readers a unique window into Archer's thought as she clarifies, sharpens and expands her theoretical contributions in response to constructive criticism. It will be an essential read for scholars and students across the social sciences, and for anyone seeking to understand the forces that shape our social world and how we can reshape it.

1. The morphogenetic approach and its trajectory: a first-person account by the author
Part I. Culture: 2. When culture is marginalized
3. Critical realists do debate culture
4. Should concepts of culture give more prominence to critical discourse analysis
Part II. Structure: 5. Misrepresenting S.A.C. as dualism
6. The majority of agents are the dead: implications for central conflation
7. Can structuration and morphogenesis be compatible?
Part III. Agency: 8. Enter the passive agent
9. Agents as individuals and dispositions as plural
10. Two types of agency, but are they not related?

Subject Areas: Social theory [JHBA]