Conclusions. Causality Between Plurality and Unity

The previous chapters convey the image of causal analysis in public policy and beyond as a fragmented field where research communities seldom learn from each other’s findings. This chapter resumes the ontological, epistemological, and methodological evidence that causal analysis is characterized by a plurality of objects and “incommensurable” interpretations. It also argues that the same evidence pinpoints how this plurality is complementary at every level, and causal structures raise as the elements that link ontology and methodology and can organize heterogeneous findings to improve learning across accounts.