Researching identity: a critical realist approach

O'Mahoney, Joseph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4040-3894 and Marks, Abigail 2014. Researching identity: a critical realist approach. Edwards, Paul, O'Mahoney, Joseph and Vincent, Steve, eds. Putting Critical Realism into Practice: A Guide to Research Methods in Organization Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 66-85.

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Abstract

The weaknesses of the constructivist positions on identity stem, primarily, from its ontological commitments. The failure to distinguish between ontology and epistemology results in explanatory weakness and emancipatory impotence (Fairclough et al. 2002). Here, we develop an alternative, critical realist, account of identity which we suggest ameliorates these weaknesses. To do so, we first explain how the principles of critical realism (CR) apply to thinking about identity and discourse, which in turn leads to an examination of the consequences of this for research. Finally, we provide a brief example of a critical realist analysis of identity based upon the recent work of one of the authors.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	22 April 2016
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2023 20:44
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/37569

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