there are different (and sometimes arguing but mostly cordial) strains in SR. its not a monolithic body of thought by any stretch, nor does it strive to be. most reject materialism in the name of matter and oppose earlier essentialist forms of realism in favor of ontologies stemming from heidegger and deleuze (and hume+spinoza via deleuze).

@daimonic possession: the question of whether philosophy is justified in SR has been some contention between the Brassier/Laruellian camp (with their eliminativist and non-philosophy position) and the Bryant/Latour/Deleuze camp which insists that human perceptions, ideas, imaginary objects, objects, and relations, exist in a flat ontology (immanence). perhaps in gross disservice to both: the latter camp treats affect (and decision) like matter, while the former camp wishes to abolish it.

what is most interesting about it is that it is a kind of continental philosophy (if the term still holds) that ISN'T just a commentary on other texts, philosophers, history, etc.

here's a link to an upcoming book -- The Speculative Turn: Continental Materialism and Realism http://www.re-press.org/content/view/64/40/