Contested Futures: A Sociology of Prospective Techno-Science

by Nik Brown, Brian Rappert

In a unique volume, Contested Futures brings together a group of scholars to examine the relationships between social action and the future. Rather than speculating upon what the future might bring, the volume interrogates the metaphors and practices through which the future is mobilized as an object of present day action and agency. The book shifts the analytical gaze from looking into the future to looking at the future as a sociological phenomenon in its own right. Futures are thus contested in as much as they register differences of interest, time frame or organizational and political form. Contestation is also evident in the ascendancy of certain discourses, languages and metaphors which foreclose some futures whilst facilitating others. But futures are far from being simply linguistic abstractions, and in fact can often be seen to harden into material entrenchment as expectations become scripted into 'path dependency' and 'lock in'. Contested Futures is an invaluable analysis for both academics and policy actors seeking a better understanding of the ubiquity of futures-discourse in the context of today’s uncertainties.

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2017

Reviews

[Alireza Hejazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book considers the future as a sociological phenomenon. It represents the social processes that create, construct, contest, colonize, and consume the future. Its ultimate goal is to identify the mechanisms that materialize, manage, and master the future. Brown et al. (2020) study the ways of creating and investigating the performative nature of the future. The performativity of the future refers to the representations of the future constructed to “perform” in desirable ways. Such performance embraces several dimensions, including the presentation of self, the production of subject positions for readers/viewers, and the engagement of various players, bringing them into being of a particular state of future. Readers interested in knowing more about the societal aspects of futures thinking may find this book helpful to their studies.