Ontology-Led Inquiry into Knowledge (Re)production: a Political Economy Argument from the Western Balkans

If we regard that the social activity of scientific (re)production of knowledge ought to have societal relevance, we are probably right to be concerned with inaccessibility of ontology-led inquiry in political economy. As students of ontology, we may further challenge the extent to which such studies deliver on the implicit or explicit promise of seriousness. Addressing these questions matters in so far as ontology matters, but how should we proceed? Showing the necessity of ontological situating for any meaningful conversation in social science remains fundamental, but insufficient. We must show ontology in action. This paper presents an ontology-led analysis of knowledge (re)production in the Western Balkans (WB). Thematically, the study is concerned with migration, a prominent matter of public policy. Since WB started variegated transition towards market rule, especially after Yugoslav wars, emigration has been studied dominantly in its relation to local and international (particularly EU) labour markets. From initial questions about who leaves, and why, scholarship today has accepted mobility and examines how circular migration, or the so-called diaspora can support WB communities. Proliferation of evidence seems to inform public policy. A critical reading of literature, however, signals an absence of explanation: arguments are often unclear, descriptive or void of theory and methodology; questions about underlying conditions and relations that (re)produce or change emigration drivers or migration-related public policy are missing. This paper asks: what are ontological commitments of existing literature? What necessary and internal relations support this knowledge (re)production, and how? What must exist for me to interpret literature in this way? To conduct the analysis, I adopt a two-step approach. I start by situating selected grey and scholarly literature within an ontic debate on structure-agency or material-ideational (to be decided) with a cartography proposed by Knio (2023). I then address the second part of my question by applying Knio’s Morphogenetic Régulation (MR). MR is an approach concerned with systemic persistence, developed in a series of articles between 2018 and 2025. Importantly for problems raised here, MR is a theoretical and methodological tool grounded in critical realist ontology and operationalized for studying capitalist systems. That is, MR offers a clear avenue for ontology-led inquiry of empirical relevance. This is evidenced in a December 2025 special issue of the Journal of Critical Realism, where authors apply MR to problems in political economy: generative AI by Andrew Dryhurst or neoliberalization in Palestine by Yazid Zahda are some examples. I contribute to this effort (i) with a focus on knowledge (re)production in WB, where this framework has never been applied, and by (ii) reflecting on how the framework (or insights it produces) may be accessible and useful for broader research communities and public policy experts. The latter is a core objective of my PhD project, and this paper is its first part.