ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on Andrew Sayer’s work during the 1980s when his day job was that of an industrial geographer, but when he also laid the foundations for a distinctive approach to critical realism. This involved simultaneous commitments to long-term empirical enquiries, to the specification (and operationalisation) of a demanding methodological code, and to a series of more or less fashionable positions in debates in radical political economy and social theory. Presenting a sympathetic reassessment of this formative period in Sayer’s ultimately post-disciplinary career, the chapter reflects on choices made between ‘hard work and its alternatives’, to recall the title of a rejoinder to David Harvey.
