This open access book argues that what makes writing academic emerges from socio-academic and historical practices rather than conventionalised stylistic, linguistic or syntactic forms. Using a critical realist lens, it re-imagines academic writings as 21st-century open systems that change according to affordances perceived by writers. By re-imagining how, which and whose knowledge emerges, conceptual spaces are created whereby writing practices can be pluralised and democratised. Academic communication hinges on being able to write in certain forms but not others, which risks excluding...

This open access book argues that what makes writing academic emerges from socio-academic and historical practices rather than conventionalised stylistic, linguistic or syntactic forms. Using a critical realist lens, it re-imagines academic writings as 21st-century open systems that change according to affordances perceived by writers. By re-imagining how, which and whose knowledge emerges, conceptual spaces are created whereby writing practices can be pluralised and democratised. Academic communication hinges on being able to write in certain forms but not others, which risks excluding...