Resistance is futile – explanatory theory must go on! A commentary on Robert W. Lake's ‘ On Resisting the Seduction of Theory ’

Abstract

This commentary echoes Robert Lake's epistemological critiques of theory as Truth-seeking or Understanding-oriented in a material world of contentious socio-spatial change. But instead of blaming incessant theory culture, I make the case for a kind of mid-range theory that might offer practically adequate social knowledge for positive real-world interventions. In line with pragmatist thinking in critical Geography, I argue that context-specific explanatory theory can overcome the sort of Cartesian anxiety and academic escapism identified in Lake's paper. Good theory is about conceptualising and teasing out those analytical connections within thick descriptions that can shed useful light on the purposive practices of actors and their constitutive power relations and ultimately make the difference through illuminating empirical outcomes and the possibilities for changing them. While we should indeed resist the temptation of ‘theoretical theory,’ explanatory theory must go on.