Abstract
This article is the last in a trio of attempts to learn from and apply Margaret Archer’s (critical) realist work on ‘internal conversations’ to the sociology of health inequalities. In the earlier contributions ideal types of two key ‘players’ were discerned: the ‘focused autonomous reflexives’ were held to be crucially implicated in the generation and maintenance of health inequalities, and the ‘dedicated meta-reflexives’ were identified as most likely resisters. In this anniversary issue it is suggested that a further ideal type – that of the ‘vulnerable fractured reflexive’ – is indicated. But the vulnerable fractured reflexives are ‘non-players’: they have a mind-set that leaves them susceptible to health threats and to reduced life-expectancy. The concept of ‘disconnected fatalism’ is introduced as a possible successor to those of alienation and anomie in post-1970s financial capitalism. A new viable research programme is hinted at.
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Scambler, G. Archer and ‘vulnerable fractured reflexivity’: A neglected social determinant of health?. Soc Theory Health 11, 302–315 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.11