| 1. |
- Godhe, Michael, 1964-
(author)
-
After Work : Anticipatory Knowledge on Post-Scarcity Futures in John Barnes’s Thousand Cultures Tetralogy
- 2018
-
In: Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research. - : Linköping University Electronic Press. - 2000-1525 .- 2000-1525. ; 10:2, s. 246-262
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- What would happen if we could create societies with an abundance of goods and services created by cutting-edge technology, making manual wage labour unnecessary – what has been labelled societies with a post-scarcity economy. What are the pros and cons of such a future? Several science fiction novels and films have discussed these questions in recent decades, and have examined them in the socio-political, cultural, economic, scientific and environmental contexts of globalization, migration, nationalism, automation, robotization, the development of nanotechnology, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and global warming. In the first section of this article, I introduce methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives connected to Critical Future Studies and science fiction as anticipatory knowledge. In the second and third section, I introduce the question of the value of work by discussing some examples from speculative fiction. In section four to seven, I analyze the Thousand Culture tetralogy (1992–2006), written by science fiction author John Barnes. The Thousand Cultures tetralogy is set in the 29th century, in a post-scarcity world. It highlights the question of work and leisure, and the values of each, and discusses these through the various societies depicted in the novels. What are the possible risks with societies where work is voluntary?
|
|
| 2. |
- Godhe, Michael, 1964-, et al.
(author)
-
Critical Future Studies : A Thematic Introduction
- 2018
-
In: Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research. - : Linköping University Electronic Press. - 2000-1525 .- 2000-1525. ; 10:2, s. 151-162
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction theme issue Culture Unbound
|
|
| 3. |
- Godhe, Michael, 1964-, et al.
(author)
-
Beyond Capitalist Realism - Why We Need Critical Future Studies
- 2017
-
In: Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research. - 2000-1525 .- 2000-1525. ; 9:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper introduces the interdisciplinary field of Critical Future Studies (CFS).CFS investigates the scope and constraints within public culture for imagining anddebating different potential futures. It interrogates imagined futures founded – oftensurreptitiously – upon values and assumptions from the past and present, aswell as those representing a departure from current social trajectories. CFS drawson perspectives from various disciplines including sociology, political studies,intellectual history, cultural history, media and cultural studies, utopian studies,science and technology studies, and philosophy. CFS also engages with discoursesand ideas from the natural sciences (including popular science), computing andeconomics. And, given our concern with public culture, CFS aims to contributeconstructively to vigorous and imaginative public debate about the future – a futuralpublic sphere – and to challenge a prevalent contemporary cynicism about ourcapacity to imagine alternative futures while trapped in a parlous present. To thatextent, we propose CFS as a programme of engaged and open-ended social critique,not as a solely academic endeavour. Our paper begins by describing the relationshipbetween CFS and mainstream Future Studies. Subsequently, we discussthe contemporary context for Critical Future Studies. Here we make the case thatCFS is a timely and even urgent project at our current historical juncture, arguingalso for the significance of both utopian and dystopian imaginings. We then go onto discuss methodologies within CFS scholarship. Finally, we conclude by reflectingon the values underpinning CFS. Overall, this paper not only describes CFSas a field of research but also serves as an invitation to cultural scholars to considerhow their own work might intersect with and contribute to CFS.
|
|
