The Reflexive Imperative in Late Modernity
Abstract
This book completes Margaret Archer's trilogy investigating the role of reflexivity in mediating between structure and agency. What do young people want from life? Using analysis of family experiences and life histories, her argument respects the properties and powers of both structures and agents and presents the 'internal conversation' as the site of their interplay. In unpacking what 'social conditioning' means, Archer demonstrates the usefulness of 'relational realism'. She advances a new theory of relational socialisation, appropriate to the 'mixed messages' conveyed in families that are rarely normatively consensual and thus cannot provide clear guidelines for action. Life-histories are analysed to explain the making and breaking of the various modes of reflexivity. Different modalities have been dominant from early societies to the present and the author argues that modernity is slowly ceding place to a 'morphogenetic society' as meta-reflexivity now begins to predominate, at least amongst educated young people.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Reflective learning is highly relevant to medical education and wider society.
“Reflective learning (Scho ¨n 1983(Scho ¨n , 1987) ) has important relevance to medical education, and more widely in society (Archer 2012).”
From Adult learning theories: Implications for learning and teaching in medical education: AMEE Guide No. 83 (2013) · cites this paper as Archer 2012
Cites
<i>The Structure of Scientific Revolutions</i>
Kuhn, T. S., & Schlegel, R. (1963) · Physics Today · doi:10.1063/1.3050879 · Cited by 35,538 · see citing works
James, W. (1891) · Henry Holt and Company eBooks · doi:10.1037/11059-000 · Cited by 25,799 · see citing works
Vygotsky, L. S. (1964) · Bulletin of the Orton Society · doi:10.1007/bf02928399 · Cited by 20,704 · see citing works
Bourdieu, P. (1990) · doi:10.1515/9781503621749 · Cited by 17,271 · see citing works
Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior
Miller, K. A. J., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1988) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2070638 · Cited by 15,361 · see citing works
Wallace, A. F. C., & Garfinkel, H. (1968) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2092245 · Cited by 12,413 · see citing works
Mead, G. H., Joas, H., Huebner, D. R., & Morris, C. W. (2015) · University of Chicago Press eBooks · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226112879.001.0001 · Cited by 12,408 · see citing works
The Theory of Social and Economic Organization.
Salomon-Delatour, G., Weber, M., Henderson, A. M., & Parsons, T. (1948) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2086579 · Cited by 11,302 · see citing works
An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology.
Camic, C., Bourdıeu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1993) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2074573 · Cited by 9,338 · see citing works
The theory of communicative action
Edgar, A. (2014) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315710495-5 · Cited by 8,669 · see citing works
Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies
Swidler, A. (1986) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2095521 · Cited by 8,661 · see citing works
Central Problems in Social Theory
Giddens, A. (1979) · Bloomsbury Publishing Plc eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-349-16161-4 · Cited by 7,984 · see citing works
The Logic of Scientific Discovery.
Hutchison, T. W., & Popper, K. R. (1959) · Economica · doi:10.2307/2550489 · Cited by 7,628 · see citing works
An introduction to cybernetics
Ashby, W. R. (1956) · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.5851 · Cited by 7,578 · see citing works
The Cognitive Structure of Emotions
Ortony, A., Clore, G. L., & Collins, A. (1988) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511571299 · Cited by 6,208 · see citing works
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/231294 · Cited by 6,165 · see citing works
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Bourdıeu, P. (2007) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctv120qr2d.16 · Cited by 5,558 · see citing works
ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SOCIAL REALITY
(2018) · University of Iowa Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctt20ks0rb.46 · Cited by 4,818 · see citing works
Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce
(1935) · Nature · doi:10.1038/135131a0 · Cited by 4,603 · see citing works
Manifesto for a Relational Sociology
Emirbayer, M. (1997) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/231209 · Cited by 3,832 · see citing works
Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity
Hamlyn, D. W., & Taylor, C. (1991) · British Journal of Educational Studies · doi:10.2307/3120882 · Cited by 3,735 · see citing works
Realist social theory the morphogenetic approach
Archer, M. S. (1995) · Cited by 2,938 · see citing works
Self-citationReflexive modernization: politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order
(1995) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.32-6488 · Cited by 2,870 · see citing works
Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation
Archer, M. S. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139087315 · Cited by 2,456 · see citing works
Self-citationTAYLOR, C. E. (1985) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139173483 · Cited by 2,374 · see citing works
Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
Wheater, K. (2017) · Macat Library eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781912128297 · Cited by 2,060 · see citing works
The New Spirit of CapitalismPreprint
Chiapello, È., & Boltanski, L. (2005) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · doi:10.1007/s10767-006-9006-9 · Cited by 1,687 · see citing works
Whitbeck, C., & Bhaskar, R. (1977) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.2307/2184170 · Cited by 1,624 · see citing works
Being Human: The Problem of Agency
Himmelstrand, U., & Archer, M. S. (2002) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/3089723 · Cited by 1,290 · see citing works
Self-citationSociology and Modern Systems Theory.
Rapoport, A., & Buckley, W. (1968) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2091927 · Cited by 1,112 · see citing works
The importance of what we care about
Frankfurt, H. G. (1982) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/bf00484902 · Cited by 1,098 · see citing works
Culture and agency: the place of culture in social theory
Archer, M. S. (1989) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.26-2971 · Cited by 1,044 · see citing works
Self-citationGiddens, A. (1998) · Cited by 1,040 · see citing works
Professional Ethics and Civic Morals.
Richter, M., Durkheim, É., & Brookfield, C. (1958) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2089063 · Cited by 1,000 · see citing works
Thévenot, L. (2006) · La Découverte eBooks · doi:10.3917/dec.theve.2006.02 · Cited by 933 · see citing works
Towards a Reflexive Sociology: A Workshop with Pierre Bourdieu
Wacquant, L. J. D. (1989) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.2307/202061 · Cited by 918 · see citing works
Elster, J. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139173308 · Cited by 878 · see citing works
Making our Way through the World: Human Reflexivity and Social Mobility
Archer, M. S. (2007) · Cited by 818 · see citing works
Self-citationArcher, M. S. (1996) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511557668 · Cited by 797 · see citing works
Self-citationTHE SECOND CYBERNETICS Deviation-Amplifying Mutual Causal Processes
Maruyama, M. (1963) · Cited by 796 · see citing works
Weber, M., Cohen, I. J., & Knight, F. H. (2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203790991 · Cited by 780 · see citing works
Joas, H. (1996) · Cited by 677 · see citing works
10. The Differentiation of Society
Luhmann, N. (1982) · Columbia University Press eBooks · doi:10.7312/luhm90862-013 · Cited by 662 · see citing works
Camic, C. (1986) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/228386 · Cited by 599 · see citing works
Social Origins of Educational Systems
Peil, M., & Archer, M. S. (1981) · British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/589781 · Cited by 526 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Disappearance of Introspection
M., D. W., & Lyons, W. (1987) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1422412 · Cited by 481 · see citing works
‘Social integration and System integration’
Archer, M. S. (1996) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511557668.012 · Cited by 473 · see citing works
Self-citationRelational Sociology: A New Paradigm for the Social Sciences
Donati, P. (2010) · Cited by 452 · see citing works
Hybridizing Habitus and Reflexivity: Towards an Understanding of Contemporary Identity?
Adams, M. (2006) · Sociology · doi:10.1177/003803850663672 · Cited by 418 · see citing works
Twenty-First Century Dis-Ease? Habitual Reflexivity Or the Reflexive Habitus
Sweetman, P. (2003) · The Sociological Review · doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.2003.00434.x · Cited by 381 · see citing works
Frankfurt, H. G. (2006) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9781400826063 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
Routine, Reflexivity, and Realism
Archer, M. S. (2010) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2010.01375.x · Cited by 358 · see citing works
Self-citationThe causal power of social structures: emergence, structure and agency
(2011) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.48-4787 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Taylor, C. (2012) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139173483.003 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
Four Concepts of Social Structure DOUGLAS V. PORPORA
Porpora, D. V. (1989) · Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour · doi:10.1111/j.1468-5914.1989.tb00144.x · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Reconciling Archer and Bourdieu in an Emergentist Theory of Action*
Elder-Vass, D. (2007) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2007.00312.x · Cited by 274 · see citing works
Relational Thinking: A Critique of Co-Deterministic Theories of Structure and Agency
Dépelteau, F. (2008) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2008.00318.x · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Habitus, field and capital: the question of historical specificity
Calhoun, C. J. (1993) · London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Identification and Wholeheartedness
Frankfurt, H. G. (1988) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511625411.002 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Portraits sociologiques : dispositions et variations individuelles
Lahire, B. (2002) · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Creativity, Habit, and the Social Products of Creative Action: Revising Joas, Incorporating Bourdieu
Dalton, B. W. (2004) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.0735-2751.2004.00236.x · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Against Structure: A Critique of Morphogenetic Social Theory
King, A. C. (1999) · The Sociological Review · doi:10.1111/1467-954x.00170 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
A Realist Philosophy of Social Science: Explanation and Understanding
Manicas, P. T. (2006) · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Campbell, C. (1996) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511583384 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Hollis, M. (1988) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511621161 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
La trame conjugale : analyse du couple par son linge
Kaufmann, J.-C. (1992) · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Christofori, G. (2007) · Nature · doi:10.1038/446735a · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Emergence and the Realist Account of Cause
Elder‐Vass, D. (2005) · Journal of Critical Realism · doi:10.1558/jocr.v4i2.315 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Theoretical Logic in Sociology-Volume 1: Positivism, Presuppositions, and Current Controversies.
Willer, D., & Alexander, J. C. (1984) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2578871 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Models of Man: Philosophical Thoughts on Social Action
Hollis, M. (1977) · Cited by 97 · see citing works
The odd couple: Margaret Archer, Anthony Giddens and British social theory
King, A. C. (2010) · British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1111/j.1468-4446.2009.01288.x · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Predicting the Behavior of the Educational System
Pietig, J., Green, T. F., Ericson, D. P., et al. (1981) · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis · doi:10.2307/1163706 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Introduzione alla sociologia relazionale
Abbruzzese, S., & Donati, P. (1985) · Revue Française de Sociologie · doi:10.2307/3321750 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Outhwaite, W. (2006) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470773505 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Rationality and Freedom: Weber and Beyond*
Levine, D. N. (1981) · Sociological Inquiry · doi:10.1111/j.1475-682x.1981.tb01021.x · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Smith, J. T. (1940) · Notes and Queries · doi:10.1093/nq/179.7.120f · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Davis, W. H. (1972) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-010-2802-8 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Heterogenistics and morphogenetics
Maruyama, M. (1978) · Theory and Society · doi:10.1007/bf01880861 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
The Myth of Cultural Integration
Archer, M. S. (1996) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511557668.002 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Self-citationVandenberghe, F. (2005) · European Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1177/1368431005051765 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Ostrow, J. M. (1979) · Human Studies · doi:10.1007/bf02127463 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Critical Realism and Relational Sociology
Archer, M. S. (2010) · Journal of Critical Realism · doi:10.1558/jcr.v9i2.199 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationL'enseignement en France, 1800-1967
C., A., & Prost, A. (1970) · Population · doi:10.2307/1529562 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Theory and Research on Human Emotions
Turner, J. H. (2004) · Advances in group processes · doi:10.1016/s0882-6145(2004)21 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self and Self—Other Reflexivity: The Apophatic Dimension
Mouzelis, N. P. (2010) · European Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1177/1368431010362299 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
On the Usefulness of Final Ends
Frankfurt, H. G. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511624643.008 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Donati, P. (1998) · Carocci Editore eBooks · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Roman Catholics in England: Studies in Social Structure since the Second World War
Arnstein, W. L., & Hornsby‐Smith, M. P. (1989) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1862145 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
The developmental logic of social systems
Teune, H., & Mlinar, Z. (1978) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Il paradigma relazionale nelle scienze sociali: le prospettive sociologiche
Donati, P., & Colozzi, I. (2006) · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Homo economicus, Homo sociologicus and Homo sentiens
Parker, A. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203133897-10 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Causal Loops, Interaction, and Creativity
Maruyama, M. (2003) · International Review of Sociology · doi:10.1080/0390670032000139557 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Comparing modernities : pluralism versus homogenity : essays in homage to Shmuel N. Eisenstadt
Rafael, E. B., Sternberg, Y., & Eisenstadt, S. Ν. (2005) · BRILL eBooks · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Review Essay : Creativity is Coming
Kilpinen, E. (1998) · Acta Sociologica · doi:10.1177/000169939804100206 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Human reflexivity in social realism: Beyond the modern debate
Maccarini, A. M., & Prandini, R. (2009) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203867556-12 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Interwoven and interactive heterogeneity in the 21st century
Maruyama, M. (1994) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/0040-1625(94)90065-5 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Beyond the Normative and the Utilitarian
Mouzelis, N. P., & Joas, H. (1998) · British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/591395 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Interrelations Among Science, Politics, Aesthetics, Business Management, and Economics
Maruyama, M. (1992) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-2768-7_1 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Critical realism as viewed by relational sociology
Donati, P. (2010) · Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) · doi:10.4324/9780203860281-12 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Taylor, D. C. M., & Hamdy, H. (2013) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.3109/0142159x.2013.828153 · Cited by 1,176 · see citing works
Theorising student engagement in higher education
Kahn, P. E. (2014) · British Educational Research Journal · doi:10.1002/berj.3121 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
- Authors
- Archer, M. S.
- Affiliations
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Archer, Margaret S.
- ORCID
- Archer, Margaret S.
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 2012-05-03
- OpenAlex
- W594284313
- Cited by
- 1,052
- References
- 99
- Citations by year
- 2026: 78 · 2025: 70 · 2024: 80 · 2023: 84 · 2022: 79 · 2021: 84 · 2020: 64 · 2019: 98 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 97 · 2016: 79 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 66 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 59.28
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Critical Realism in Sociology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
- Keywords
- reflexivity, structure and agency, relational realism, social conditioning, meta-reflexivity, late modernity, family life history, youth, internal conversation, normative consensus, Margaret Archer
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
