Tag: future

  • The consequences of our expectations

    In his Imagined Futures, Jens Beckert suggests four ways in which fictional expectations make an impact on the social world: They coordinate actors by providing a common focus to their action They are able to shape the future by conditioning what action happens The freedom involved in fiction means they are not constrained by reality and […]

  • The sociology of expectations (and platform imaginaries)

    In his Imagined Futures, Jens Beckert offers a sociology of expectations which reconstructs the role of imagination in how people orientate themselves to the future. From pg 9: If actors are orientated toward the future and outcomes are uncertain, then how can expectations be define? What are expectations under conditions of uncertainty? That is the central question to […]

  • CFP: Imagining Radical Futures, Princeton Oct. 5th

    An interesting CfP I’m saving for my future reference *Imagining Radical Futures: Anthropological Potentialities?* Princeton Anthropology Graduate Conference October 5th, 2018 Princeton University *“The facts, alone, will not save us. Social change requires novel fictions that reimagine and rework* *all that is taken for granted about the current structure of society” (Benjamin 2016)* Anthropology has […]

  • Who could object to a project that seeks to stop killer robots?

    Who could object to a project that seeks to stop killer robots? The UK government apparently: The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an alliance of human rights groups and concerned scientists, is calling for an international prohibition on fully autonomous weapons. Last week Human Rights Watch released a report urging the creation of a new […]

  • Call for Papers: Futures in Question conference

    Call for Papers   FUTURES IN QUESTION   11-12 September 2014   Goldsmiths, University of London    How is the future imagined, planned for and manifested as the site of social and political struggle? Is the idea of progress towards a better future challenged as a result of financial, environmental, political and health crises? How […]