The following message was sent to members of IACR on the news of the death of Professor Margaret Archer, a beloved member of the critical realist community.
23 May 2023
Hi everyone,
We all at the International Association for Critical Realism are greatly saddened by the death of Margaret Archer this week. For me personally as for many of you, it is the loss of a beloved friend.
Beyond us personally, Maggie made a tremendous contribution to the development of critical realism, critical realist social theory and research. As a sociologist, she occupied important positions of leadership. For example, she was the first female President of the International Sociological Association (1986-90) and President and founder member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (2014-19). She was a member and trustee of the Centre for Critical Realism from 1996 and Director of The Centre for Social Ontology from 2011. Her books on a realist social theory of reflexivity and the morphogenic approach are influential and vital contributions to critical realist thought and have been widely adopted in critical realist empirical research methodologies.
We will miss Maggie’s energetic contribution to learning and discussion at IACR conferences. Her passing is a huge loss to the critical realist community. We will offer a commemorative session about her at the upcoming IACR meeting in the Philippines. Other commemorations may be planned as well.
With all of you in mourning,
Doug
Douglas Porpora
President, IACR