SwePub - sökning: L773:0016 3287 OR L773:1873 63...

Numrering	Referens	Omslagsbild	Hitta
1.	Höjer, Mattias, et al. (författare) Determinism and backcasting in future studies 2000 Ingår i: Futures. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 32:7, s. 613-634 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract In this paper, four frequently cited approaches to future studies are criticised. We use examples mainly from the field of transport research. The first approach is the tendency to try to establish cyclic behaviour in socio-technical changes. The second is the view that transport and communication are positively correlated. The third is the so-called 'hypothesis of constant travel time', according to which, the average daily travel time of a population is more or less stable. The fourth is the alleged causal relationship between urban density and petrol use. The use of these approaches is criticised for a number of reasons, among others for over-simplifying the underlying mechanisms and for being too deterministic. In cases where drastic change is needed, current trends must be broken, but perhaps through measures other than those indicated by the above approaches. In other words, the cited approaches may overlook interesting opportunities and fail to urge necessary action. Backcasting is put forward as a more promising approach, especially for situations where great change is needed, However, it has been found in this study that backcasting and different forecasting approaches an complementary. The argument is that backcasting is mainly appropriate where current trends art: leading towards an unfavourable state. Therefore, forecasting methods are necessary because they inform the backcaster when backcasting is required. Finally, the paper discusses the use of different models in planning, primarily in the context of their role in the path analyses of backcasting scenarios.
2.	Amcoff, Jan, et al. (författare) Understanding Rural Change : Demography as a key to the future 2007 Ingår i: Futures. - : Futures. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 39:4, s. 363-379 Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract The last decades have seen a rapidly growing interest in foresight methodology. Methods have been developed in corporate and governmental communication exercises often labelled technology foresight. In reality, these foresights have often drifted into processes of social change, since technological change is hard to foresee beyond what is already in the pipe-line. Forecasting of social change, however, must be based on solid knowledge about the mechanisms of continuity and change. Virtually nothing can be said about the future without relating to the past; foresights and futures studies are about revealing the hidden pulse of history. Hence, the answer to forecasting the future is empirical research within the social sciences. Demographic change has been recognised as a key determinant for explaining social change. Population changes are fairly predictable and the age transition can explain a wide range of socio-economic changes. For rural futures, demographic change is a key issue, since age structure in rural areas is often uneven and also unstable due to migration patterns. A number of policy related questions as well as research challenges are raised as a consequence.
3.	Amcoff, Jan, 1966-, et al. (författare) Understanding rural change—demography as a key to the future 2007 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 39:4, s. 363-379 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
4.	Andersson, Daniel, 1989- (författare) Future perfect climates : A phenomenological rejoinder to the performativity of climate change mitigation pathways 2024 Ingår i: Futures. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 160 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract From charting out climate change mitigation pathways to estimating price risks associated with the social cost of carbon, as environmentally concerned citizens of the twenty-first century, we live in a culture of foresight. Because of a growing integration of an ever-wider sample space of possible climate futures into the present, historical experience has become seemingly irrelevant for effectively predicting where our climate transitions are headed, in effect restricting our sense of futurity to its performativity in the present. What has been surprisingly absent as a theoretical and methodological approach among sociologists, however, are treatments of the performativity of the future as the expression of a historical praxis for prognosis, with its own mode of disclosure. By interrogating the temporal structure of anticipation that characterizes computer-based simulations of emissions scenarios, the paper illustrates how this praxis discloses the future in accordance with the grammatical tense of the future perfect. It then argues that this relationship between past and future is the cultural product of a historically particular set of prognostic techniques and technologies, namely, model-based scenario analysis. Against this background, the paper seeks to contribute to the rehabilitation of the relevance of historical experience by historicizing the social ontological status of the future that theories of performativity take as their starting point.
5.	Arora-Jonsson, Seema (författare) The sustainable development goals: A universalist promise for the future 2023 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 146 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract The Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) have evoked optimism but have also been criticized for reproducing a universal template grounded in a western and neoliberal ideology. Identifying three strands of responses/critiques on the SDGs from a review of literature across several disciplines, I analyze what they have to say in the light of histories of past development work. I analyze how universalism is understood differently in different disciplinary approaches and how, despite its limitations, Agenda 2030 might provide a platform to meet current challenges across the world and a framework to talk across different geographies and disciplines. While a delinking from current development and global economic structures are needed for change, I explore how the SDGs can be used to redeploy development to change those very structures. I argue that decolonizing development calls for changing development structures from inside out as much as finding new ways of being outside it.
6.	Barrineau, Susanna, et al. (författare) Emergentist education and the opportunities of radical futurity 2022 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 144, s. 103062- Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Higher education has been criticised for its instrumental character, which constrains possibilities for meaningful change towards sustainability. Drawing on the concept of radical futurity, we develop a conception of education that we call "emergentist education". We integrate literature from futures studies, education for sustainable development, philosophy of education, and bring into dialogue experiences from three futures-facing educational contexts at a Swedish university. We identify three key areas to conceive of emergentist education and its value in practice: disciplinary and institutional norms, convening around anticipatory emotions, and deepening the paradox of sustainability as emergent through radical futurity. We apply a diffractive analysis through these key areas to demonstrate how a reorientation of education as emergentist might allow students and teachers to contest visions of futures. This work helps in approaching the liberation of education to allow young people to come together whole-heartedly around what matters to them.
7.	Bendor, Roy, et al. (författare) Looking backward to the future: : On past-facing approaches to futuring 2021 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 125 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract While the past is present in all futuring activities it tends to remain implicit and has not received adequate attention by futures scholars and practitioners. In response, this conceptual paper offers a novel framework with which the past can be brought into futures studies in a structured and comprehensive way. We begin by providing a brief account of how the past already figures in futures studies as part of efforts to understand the lingering effects of the past on the future; as part of a drive for ontological pluralization; and as a way to augment more mainstream futuring exercises. We then introduce two past-facing approaches to futuring, recasting and pastcasting, and illustrate their symmetry with the more familiar future-facing approaches, forecasting and backcasting. The symmetry, we argue, is based on shared aims and a shared style of inquiry. We then compare the different approaches and illustrate the landscape of futuring as an interplay of two dimensions: the focus of the activity on outcomes or pathways, and the stakes involved in it.
8.	Bergman, Ann, et al. (författare) Truth claims and explanatory claims : An ontological typology of futures studies 2010 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 42:8, s. 857-865 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Classifications of futures research are usually based on epistemological differences, but we complete these with ontological considerations. The article presents a typology of forecasts, i.e. statements on future events or states. It has two dimensions, truth claim and explanatory claim; each dimension has two values, making the claim or not making the claim. The four outcomes are then: Forecasts which make both truth claims and explanatory claims (predictions); which make truth claims, but not explanatory claims (prognoses); which make explanatory claims, but not truth claims (science fiction); and which make neither truth claims nor explanatory claims (utopias or dystopias). We regard each outcome as an ideal type, against which forecasts can be measured. We illustrate the use of the typology by presenting an example of each outcome
9.	Brozović, Danilo (författare) Societal Collapse : A Literature Review 2022 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 145 Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract Because of concerns that ongoing climate change could lead to a possible collapse of human civilization, the topic of societal (civilization) collapse has emerged as especially relevant, not least for the futures-oriented studies. While this has led to extensive research on societal collapse, there is a lack of consolidation and synthesis of the research. The purpose of this article is thus to systematize the extant research on societal collapse and suggest future research directions. This article offers a systematic multidisciplinary review of the existing literature (361 articles and 73 books) and identifies five scholarly conversations: past collapses, general explanations of collapse, alternatives to collapse, fictional collapses, and future climate change and societal collapse. The review builds the foundation for a critical discussion of each line of inquiry by focusing on theoretical tensions and themes within each scholarly conversation, ending with a discussion of how these conversations inform futures research.
10.	Bussey, Marcus, et al. (författare) Explorations in intercultural work integrated learning : Educational process for a Topsy-Turvy world 2011 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:1, s. 39-47 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper investigates how work integrated learning (WIL) can be re-imagined/re-enacted as collaborative playgrounds of networks. To do this we first establish the working context for these reflections by exploring fragments of biography and the immediate catalyst which was a recent seminar held over 5 days, beginning in the rural Swedish town of Ed and, for the last 2 days, at University West in Trollhättan. We then set out to explore the normative and theoretical context of our approach before finally moving to an exploration of the concept of WIL via CLA and scenarios. Our overall goal is to describe some features of an expanded concept of WIL as it relates to intercultural learning. In doing this we hope to generate processes that facilitate the kind of learning necessary if we are to enable teachers and students to build sustainable futures they can realistically aspire to. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.
11.	Börjeson, Lena, et al. (författare) Scenario types and techniques : Towards a user's guide 2006 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 38:7, s. 723-739 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Various scenario typologies have been suggested in attempts to make the field of futures studies easier to overview. Our typology is based on the scenario user's need to know what will happen, what can happen, and/or how a predefined target can be achieved. We discuss the applicability of various generating, integrating and consistency techniques for developing scenarios that provide the required knowledge. The paper is intended as a step towards a guide as to how scenarios can be developed and used.
12.	Cozza, Michela, 1978-, et al. (författare) Future ageing : welfare technology practices for our future older selves 2019 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 109, s. 117-129 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract In this paper, we elaborate on how the future older person is characterised and what future ageing entails in relation to welfare technologies highlighting which actors, social and material, affect innovation governance and discussing who does not. Starting from a distinction between public, private, and academic perspectives we discuss how companies, public sector organisa- tions, and research-oriented actors construct future ageing through sociomaterial practices in the welfare technology arena. We base our reasoning on an ethnographic study conducted during the 2017 edition of the yearly MVTe-Mötesplats Välfärdsteknologi och E-hälsa Swedish event (in English: Meeting place for Welfare Technology and e-Health). We use the concept ‘welfare technology practices’ to describe how actors perform future ageing by producing and reprodu- cing a scenario where the positive effects of technology are assumed and the plurality of future older selves is overlooked. We problematise this view by reflecting on ageing as a complex so- ciomaterial process that calls for welfare technology practices and policies open to a pluralistic view of the future as futures. This study may inspire research that further explore how future ageing is constructed as well as support the development of welfare technology practices for addressing current blind spots.
13.	Ćwikła, M., et al. (författare) Images of the “future of work”. A discourse analysis of visual data on the internet 2023 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 153 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper presents findings from a critical discourse analysis of visual data gathered in regular, monthly data sampling on Google, DuckDuckGo and Bing on the theme ‘the future of work’ that were published online on Polish and Swedish websites during 2018–2021. Visions about the future in the form of images create an archive of ideas on the potential directions of societal development, where discourse is present both in what is visible, and what is invisible. The study shows predominantly stereotypical framings of work by young office workers. Conclusions are drawn on how the future is visualized contrary to popular claims of job losses that are predicted to strike mainly the younger, middle-class population. In the images collected, humans appear as mainly content in a working life without manual labour, frustration or clutter, but also without leisure, displaying a lack of visions of an older workforce, as well as the possible role of humans as useful and fulfilled without work in the future.
14.	Dahlin, Bo, 1948- (författare) Our posthuman future and education: Homo Zappiens, Cyborgs, and the New Adam 2012 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 44:1, s. 55-63 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper is a philosophical reflection on the historical development of ideas about the nature of human beings and what this development may mean for the future of and in education. In terms of the causal layered analysis developed by Sohail Inayatullah, it is an investigation on the levels of worldviews and archetypes. Ideas of human nature describe a trajectory from supranature (theological and mystical) via nature (philosophical and mechanical) to subnature (digital). With the development of psychological science about a century ago, so called psycho-utopian visions of a better society arose, based on the transformation of the human mind. Such visions seem today to have been replaced by digital utopias, based on the development of superfast computers and the enhancement of brain capacity through neural implants. The latter is a prominent feature of so called transhumanism. The transhumanist ideas of Ray Kurzweil are briefly presented and contrasted with traditional religious and spiritual ideas. Of special interest in this context is Rudolf Steiner’s philosophical–spiritual understanding of human being and development, which underpins Steiner Waldorf education. There is an existential choice confronting us today: whether to see humans as essentially spiritual beings, or as highly complex bio-computers. This choice has obvious ramifications for education as well as for the future of human being in general.
15.	Dóczi, Gabriella, et al. (författare) Exploring the transition potential of renewable energy communities 2015 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 66, s. 85-95 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
16.	Edwards, Mark G. (författare) "Every today was a tomorrow" : An integral method for indexing the social mediation of preferred futures 2008 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 40:2, s. 173-189 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract The visions we hold of the future, whether they are of utopias or dystopias, are not simply a matter of personal imagination. Our conceptions of the future are mediated to us as much as they are privately created by us. To this point, futures studies have not developed an integrative and broad-based framework for considering the social mediation of futures. Understanding how social mediation impacts on our futures visioning requires an interpretive framework that can cope with the multilayered nature of futures visions, the worldviews that are associated with them and a theory of mediation that can be applied within such a context of 'depth'. Using theory-building methodology, the current paper attempts this task by describing a theory of social mediation that builds on the integral futures framework. An application of the framework explores the relationship between various scenarios of health care futures, their associated worldviews and the mediational factors that influence our visions of future health care systems.
17.	Ehliasson, Kent (författare) Futures studies as social science : An analytic scheme and a case study 2008 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 40:5, s. 489-502 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Several authors in the futures studies field have in their efforts to improve quality argued that better methods must be developed, which makes sense. But the theoretical awareness in the substantive questions upon which the studies are based is probably more important. In that light, the primary objective of this article is to formulate a method of how fundamental social issues (views on society and humanity) are addressed in a future study, apply it to one empirical case (telecommunications company Ericsson) and thereafter analyze the method's strengths and weaknesses. The study shows that the method gained a satisfactory foothold in the material and it has an appropriate depth in relation to desired efficiency. This work has shown that the analytical method is relevant and adequate to understand and describe the orientation and contents of futures studies. Therewith, the study has generated greater awareness of fundamental assumptions in future studies that can contribute to enhancing their quality. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
18.	Francart, Nicolas, et al. (författare) Climate target fulfilment in scenarios for a sustainable Swedish built environment beyond growth 2018 Ingår i: Futures. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 98, s. 1-18 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper explores opportunities for the built environment to fulfill a far-reaching greenhouse gas (GHG) emission target in Sweden in 2050, in a context of low or no economic growth. A spreadsheet model was created, allowing for a quantitative estimation of GHG emissions and operational energy use for the built environment. Building on previous qualitative descriptions of four future scenarios, the model was run to investigate what reaching the target would require in each scenario. The results can inform policy discussions and provide insights on what strategies appear to be significant, and what they entail in terms of operational energy use in 2050 and cumulated embodied emissions from investments prior to 2050. It thus appears particularly important to decarbonate the energy mix and reduce floor areas through space sharing and optimization. When emission factors for heat and electricity are very low, the climate impact of construction materials becomes an important issue, on par with operational energy use, and strategies aimed at improving construction processes or avoiding new construction gain relevance. Extensive renovation for energy efficiency exhibits in this case a tradeoff between embodied emissions from prior investments and energy use, as decreasing one means increasing the other.
19.	Fraser, Evan D.G., et al. (författare) A framework for assessing the vulnerability of food systems to future shocks 2005 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 37:6, s. 465-479 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Modern society depends on complex agro-ecological and trading systems to provide food for urban residents, yet there are few tools available to assess whether these systems are vulnerable to future disturbances. We propose a preliminary framework to assess the vulnerability of food systems to future shocks based on landscape ecology's ‘Panarchy Framework’. According to Panarchy, ecosystem vulnerability is determined by three generic characteristics: (1) the wealth available in the system, (2) how connected the system is, and (3) how much diversity exists in the system. In this framework, wealthy, non-diverse, tightly connected systems are highly vulnerable. The wealth of food systems can be measured using the approach pioneered by development economists to assess how poverty affects food security. Diversity can be measured using the tools investors use to measure the diversity of investment portfolios to assess financial risk. The connectivity of a system can be evaluated with the tools chemists use to assess the pathways chemicals use to flow through the environment. This approach can lead to better tools for creating policy designed to reduce vulnerability, and can help urban or regional planners identify where food systems are vulnerable to shocks and disturbances that may occur in the future.
20.	Gjellebæk, Camilla, 1976-, et al. (författare) Management challenges for future digitalization of healthcare services 2020 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 124 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract eHealth is considered a solution to current challenges in healthcare. However, its use is not very well developed, and its potential has been little exploited. There are many reasons for the limited diffusion of eHealth. Knowledge, opportunities for training and collaborative activities are examples of factors that influence diffusion. Managerial responsibility is decisive in transforming healthcare. This paper aims at exploring middle management strategies that can facilitate workplace learning when introducing eHealth and new ways of providing healthcare. Introduction of eHealth will imply new and innovative working processes, where both employees and managers need to be aware that their work will change fundamentally, from routine work to work that involves learning, skills development and continuous changes in work practice. This study takes a qualitative approach by analysing data collected through focus group interviews. The findings indicate a necessity for a shift towards learning-oriented leadership and adaptive management that emphasizes employee involvement and opportunities for learning. Helping employees make sense of the complexities associated with continuously changing work practices is another identified middle management strategy. Scenario planning and backcasting stand out as suitable tools for sensemaking in complex organizations and as techniques that can promote workplace learning. © 2020 The Author(s)
21.	Gunnarsson-Östling, Ulrika, 1977- (författare) Gender in futures : A study of gender and feminist papers published in Futures, 1969-2009 2011 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:9, s. 1029-1039 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper reviews and discusses papers related to women's studies, gender or feminist perspectives, published in the scientific journal Futures. The aim is to provide new understandings and remapping of futures studies by capturing how gender is created and understood in this field. The gender/feminist criticism of futures studies mainly relates to the field being male-dominated and male biased, which means that the future is seen as already colonised by men. When synthesising the insights from all 78 papers focusing on futures studies and feminism, gender or women, four conclusions are especially striking: (1) Women and non-Westerners are generally excluded from professional futures studies activities and so are feminist issues or issues of particular relevance for women. (2) Futures studies usually make no attempts to reveal underlying assumptions, i.e. often lack a critical and reflexive perspective, which is needed in order to add a critical feminist perspective and envision feminist futures. (3) Feminist futures are needed as a contrast to hegemonic male and Western technology-orientated futures. Feminist futures are diverse, but focus the well-being of all humans. (4) Futures studies often view women as victims, rather than as drivers for change, which means that their alternative futures are often ignored.
22.	Gunnarsson-Östling, Ulrika, et al. (författare) Participatory methods for creating feminist futures 2012 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 44:10, s. 914-922 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Gender perspectives in futures studies are rare and often sidelined, but there is also a feminist quest for feminist descriptions of the future. In this paper we explore how feminist futures could be devised, by analysing three one-day workshops designed to elaborate on feminist futures. The aim of the paper is twofold: to explore the possibilities of creating feminist images of the future and to develop and test participatory workshop methods for this in various settings. In all, around 70 participants (staff at a national funding agency/feminist researchers and practitioners working with gender equality/students in a futures studies course) took part in the workshops. The participants were guided through a sequence of activities including brainstorming and visioning with the ultimate aim of creating images of feminist futures, fulfilling a pre-specified goal: a society free of structural inequalities based on sex. The participants listed factors in the present and trends that may prevent us from achieving the goal and how these factors could be described in a feminist future. We argue that futures studies methods need to be changed in order to incorporate a critical gender perspective. In the paper we examine the results of the workshop and elaborate on how feminist futures can be created.
23.	Haikola, Simon, 1982-, et al. (författare) Map-makers and navigators of politicised terrain : Expert understandings of epistemological uncertainty in integrated assessment modelling of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage 2019 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 114:102472 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has recently risen to international prominence due to its modelled potential to allow a mid-term temperature overshoot compensated by large, long-term removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The technology, however, is far from commercial. Therefore, BECCS is a suitable entry point for exploring how modellers identify, manage and communicate uncertainties. By applying framing analysis to 21 interviews with researchers working directly or closely with integrated assessment models (IAMs), three prevalent cognitive frames are identified: Climate scenarios as (1) talking points to discuss possible futures, (2) fundamentally political prescriptions that foreclose alternatives, and (3) distortions of pure science. The discourse around IAMs has entered a phase of critical reflection about their performative, political dimensions, both inside and outside of the IA modelling community. This phase is marked by modellers grappling with the responsibilities that are perceived to come with simultaneously providing maps of possible futures and standards by which these maps are to be evaluated.
24.	Hamann, M., et al. (författare) Scenarios of Good Anthropocenes in southern Africa 2020 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 118 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract In the rapidly changing and uncertain world of the Anthropocene, positive visions of the future could play a crucial role in catalysing deep social-ecological transformations to help guide humanity towards more sustainable and equitable futures. This paper presents the outcomes from a novel visioning process designed to elicit creative and inspirational future scenarios for southern Africa. The approach based scenario development on seeds of good Anthropocenes, i.e. existing initiatives or technologies that represent current, local-scale innovations for sustainability. A selection of seeds was used to create four distinct, positive visions in a participatory workshop process. Common themes that independently emerged in all four visions were i) decentralized governance and decision-making; ii) a strong emphasis on equity and empathy; iii) high levels of connectedness between people; and iv) a reinforced, respectful relationship with nature. The visions mainly differ in the extent of fusion between people and technology in everyday life, and how much nature plays a role in defining the human experience. The narratives presented here describe worlds that have undergone a more significant paradigm shift towards shared human values and stewardship of resources than is explored in most other ambient narratives for the region. These Good Anthropocene scenarios therefore demonstrate more radical, previously unimagined ways of thinking about sustainability futures on the African continent and beyond.
25.	Hansson, Sven Ove, et al. (författare) Time horizons and discount rates in Swedish environmental policy : Who decides and on what grounds? 2016 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 76, s. 55-66 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Interviews with Swedish authorities reveal large variations in the time horizons and discount rates used in their policy decisions. The time horizon, i.e. the future time period for which effects are included in the analysis, is seldom longer than 40-50 years, and nuclear waste is the only area in which a time horizon longer than 100 years is used regularly. Discount rates for non-commercial purposes vary between 2 per cent and 4 per cent, with 4 per cent as the most common rate. The differences between policy areas appear to be unsystematic and insufficiently justified. We suggest that there may be a need for coordination and, possibly, harmonization, of the choices of time horizons and discount rates.
26.	Hinton, Jennifer B., 1982- (författare) Five Key Dimensions of Post-Growth Business : Putting the Pieces Together 2021 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 131 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract As there has been no evidence of the kind of environmental decoupling necessary to allow for green economic growth, academic and activist discussions alike have turned to exploring post-growth pathways. Such a transformation entails a significant shift in economic institutions, yet post-growth analyses of what is problematic about businesses and how to resolve these issues are piecemeal. This article offers an overview and synthesis of key findings in the emerging post-growth business literature. Using institutional analysis, it develops a framework that conceptually ties together five dimensions of business that have been identified as most important for post-growth transformations: relationship-to-profit, incorporation structure, governance structure, strategy, and size and geographical scope. The intention of developing this five-dimensions framework is to offer a more coherent and concrete theoretical basis for ongoing discussions about which types of business are compatible, or incompatible, with post-growth pathways.
27.	Hubacek, K., et al. (författare) Future generations : Economic, legal and institutional aspects 2008 Ingår i: Futures: The journal of policy, planning and futures studies. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 40:5, s. 413-423 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract In economics, the issue of 'future generations' is mainly related to the environmental problems of resource consumption and pollution and their distribution over long time horizons. This paper critically discusses fundamental concepts in economics, such as efficiency and optimality, in relation to the incorporation of future generations in present day decision-making. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and discounting are used as a starting point and criticized for its inherent flaws such as incommensurability of values and its tendency to hide rather than reveal underlying values which are assumed to be fixed. We then investigate alternative approaches, in which, unlike in CBA, the preferences are not assumed to be a priori but must be constructed. Thus, interest groups or individuals must sit down together and figure out what things seem to be worth. The aim is to involve all interested parties in planning for the future. Similarly, on a national and regional level, increasingly stakeholder processes, deliberative and interest group procedures are used to develop strategies and visions for resource management and conservation. A similar case can be made for institutions at the international level. The legal examples provided in this paper show that rather than only installing an institution such as the guardian for the future on the global level, more 'democratized' bottom up approaches might be more appropriate. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
28.	Hudson, Christine, 1950-, et al. (författare) Is an 'other' city possible? : Using feminist utopias in creating a more inclusive vision of the future city 2020 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 121 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Visions of the good future city are important in futures studies and urban planning. However, these visions have been criticised for reflecting Western, masculine, heteronormative values rather than diversity, and only allowing some voices to speak and be heard. This highlights the need to develop methods for bringing in 'other' voices and enabling alternative visions to be articulated that contest the 'straightjacket' of accepted meanings and ways of being in the city. Here, we present one such attempt using transgressing alternatives of imagining the city drawn from feminist science fiction and utopian writings. These were presented to focus groups of women from different backgrounds in two Swedish cities. The aim was to create a welcoming and safe space for meaning-making that encourage the women to re-imagine their subject positions, challenge the accepted ways of being in the city and picture an 'other' future city. This was partially successful in that, in their discussions, the women both accepted and contested the city's gendered norms and power relations. This reflects the difficulties involved in questioning the existing power relations and norms from a subordinate position, emphasizing the importance of further developing this type of approach in efforts to foster more inclusive cities.
29.	Hupkes, Tisha, et al. (författare) Shifting towards non-anthropocentrism : In dialogue with speculative design futures 2022 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 140 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract We are living in an earth crisis and the world at large is demanding profound change. Some researchers claim that one necessary shift to accomplish this change is that from anthropocentrism to non-anthropocentrism. This shift has, e.g., been explored in design research. This paper aims to give voice to the design processes and experiences along The Age of Entanglement project, a project in which designers collaborated with professionals from diverse fields ranging from philosophy and biology to space engineering, to further their understanding of what a shift to non-anthropocentrism might entail. As we interviewed and observed these designers in their discussions a number of thematic challenges were touched upon: How to engage with temporalities, how to collaborate productively across diverse disciplines, how to find appropriately inclusive language for expressing ideas, how to express entanglement through concrete and clear examples as well as how to maintain a productive humble and open-minded overall disposition in the designers' sense.
30.	Häggström, Margaretha, et al. (författare) Futures literacy – To belong, participate and act! : An Educational perspective 2021 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 132 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This article examines ‘futures literacy’ as a pedagogical framework and thus contributes to the conversation about the epistemology of futures literacy, the possibility of envisioning approaches for the future, and a unified approach to literacy, based on the assumption that education is transformative and entails critical-thinking. Specifically, we explore and discuss what futures literacy means in a pedagogical context in general and in early school years education in particular. We reflect on what futures literacy may include based on the Four Resources model of literacy, and we elaborate on the epistemology of futures literacy. In our conclusions, we advocate a pedagogical approach that is active- and sensory-based. We claim that multimodal literacy approaches hold potential for democratic opportunities and alternative discourses which integrate students’ corporeal actions, sensation, and play whilst recognising diverse expressions.
31.	Höijer, Birgitta, et al. (författare) Facing dilemmas : sense-making and decision-making in late modernity 2006 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 38:3, s. 350-366 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Today the certainties of modernity are dissolving and there is little guidance on how to act. In late modernity, individuals and organisations are forced to take standpoints and make choices on the basis of uncertain knowledge and diverse views. It is argued that we therefore often are confronted with dilemmas. In this article, the concept of dilemma is presented as a way to understand and analyse processes of sense-making and decision-making by contemporary institutions and people. With reference to various current meanings, the concept of dilemma is elaborated and a definition is proposed that encompasses both the cognitive-emotional and the socio-cultural side of dilemma. Emphasising this duality, a research approach is suggested for empirically analysing the multidimensional dilemmas people and institutions are confronted with in late modernity. By way of conclusion, it is stated that the challenge is to not only acknowledge dilemmas, but to use them as means for opening up spaces where stakeholders can deliberate upon desirable futures.
32.	Höjer, Mattias, et al. (författare) Experiences of the development and use of scenarios for evaluating Swedish environmental quality objectives 2011 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:4, s. 498-512 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper presents and evaluates a method for encouraging long-term thinking and for considering a variety of scenarios in environmental policy processes. The Swedish environmental policy is based on 16 environmental quality objectives (EQOs) that national authorities are obliged to observe. These objectives are reviewed annually and evaluated in depth every four years. Here we describe and explore a futures study project for introducing more long-term thinking into work on the EQOs, which we tested in the in-depth evaluation in 2008. We found it difficult to design a collective scenario for a case with a wide variety of objectives and individuals with different backgrounds. However, this difficulty makes it even more important to incorporate futures studies into the work of the relevant authorities. Scenario work is often subcontracted, leading to a constant lack of futures studies expertise and thinking within authorities. Despite the difficulties, we found that experts within the authorities did begin to recognise the opportunities provided by futures studies. The project revealed an interest and need for futures studies within the authorities in charge of Swedish environmental quality objectives and our findings show that the authorities need to build up their own skills in futures studies.
33.	Höjer, Mattias, et al. (författare) Experiences of the development and use of scenarios for evaluating Swedish national environmental objectives 2011 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:1, s. 1-15 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract The aim of the present paper is to present and evaluate a method for encouraging long-term thinking and considerations of a variety of scenarios in environmental policy processes. The Swedish environmental policy is based on 16 environmental objectives that national authorities are responsible for. They are evaluated annually and also in-depth every fourth year. Here we describe and explore a futures study project for introducing a more long-term thinking in the work with the environmental objectives, tested in the in-depth evaluation 2008. An experience was that it is difficult to design a collective scenario work in a case with a wide variety of objectives and with individuals with different backgrounds. However, this difficulty makes it even more important to incorporate futures studies in authorities work. Scenario work is often subcontracted, leading to a constant lack of futures studies competence and thinking at the authorities. Another experience is that despite the difficulties, experts at the authorities did start thinking more in terms of opportunities with futures studies. A general conclusion from the work was that there is an interest and need for futures studies at the authorities in charge of the environmental objectives. The possibly most important conclusion from this project was that the authorities need to build up their own competences in futures studies.
34.	Höjer, Mattias, et al. (författare) Experiences of the development and use of scenarios for evaluating Swedish national environmental objectives (vol 43, pg 1, 2011) 2011 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:4, s. 497-512 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper presents and evaluates a method for encouraging long-term thinking and for considering a variety of scenarios in environmental policy processes. The Swedish environmental policy is based on 16 environmental quality objectives (EQOs) that national authorities are obliged to observe. These objectives are reviewed annually and evaluated in depth every four years. Here we describe and explore a futures study project for introducing more long-term thinking into work on the EQOs, which we tested in the in-depth evaluation in 2008. We found it difficult to design a collective scenario for a case with a wide variety of objectives and individuals with different backgrounds. However, this difficulty makes it even more important to incorporate futures studies into the work of the relevant authorities. Scenario work is often subcontracted, leading to a constant lack of futures studies expertise and thinking within authorities. Despite the difficulties, we found that experts within the authorities did begin to recognise the opportunities provided by futures studies. The project revealed an interest and need for futures studies within the authorities in charge of Swedish environmental quality objectives and our findings show that the authorities need to build up their own skills in futures studies.
35.	Ishida, Shuichi, et al. (författare) Factors influencing Japanese auto suppliers' predictions about the future of new technologies - An exploratory study of electric vehicles 2017 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 89, s. 38-59 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This article investigates the effects of different characteristics of supplier-customer relationships in the Japanese automotive industry, and how these influence predictions about future technologies of a disruptive nature, such as Electric Vehicles (EVs). We conducted a survey of a broad set of suppliers in the Japanese automotive industry and another survey of suppliers registered with Toyota's two supplier associations. The data were used to analyse the influence of particular relationships and practices on information gathering about new technologies, preparations for R&D and production of new components, and predictions about new technologies. The study shows that suppliers' R&D intensity and the usage degree of the drawing-supplied parts system lead to predictions favouring the uptake of new technologies. Moreover, communication between automakers and suppliers and arm's-length relationships simultaneously lead to favourable views on the future of new technologies, especially with regard to EVs. Moreover, we find that Japanese-style cooperative relationships, arm's-length relationships, communication between automakers and suppliers, and communication among suppliers all lead to less favourable views on new technology uptake (in this case, EVs). We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice, specifically for EVs.
36.	Jebari, Karim, et al. (författare) A Game of Stars : Active SETI, radical translation and the Hobbesian trap 2018 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 101, s. 46-54 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Among scholars dedicated to Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), the risks and possibilities of actively contacting extra-terrestrials (Active SETI) have been widely discussed. Yet, some fundamental philosophical problems concerning the possibility of translating an alien language have hardly been raised in this context. The proponents of Active SETI assume that, abswould an extra-terrestrial intelligent (ETI) entity choose to contact us, they would use radio signals to convey a coded message that would be possible for us to decode and translate. Furthermore, they argue, were we to transmit a message, then this message would also be possible to translate. However, any interstellar message would, for obvious reasons, be conveyed without context and without the possibility of meaningful interaction over timescales relevant to us. According to the most influential research program in the philosophy of language, the meaning of an utterance is derived from its use in a context and is not intrinsic to the utterance by which it was conveyed. Therefore, while radical translation, i.e. learning an unknown language, is possible, it requires contextualized interaction. Only then can semantic behavior be observed, and utterances linked to meaning. Thus, merely an exchange of signals cannot produce meaningful communication. If this claim is true, there are important game-theoretical consequences of interstellar contact. An informal game theoretical analysis of this scenario, A Game of Stars, is described. This analysis suggests that the lack of communication may lead players into a Hobbesian Trap, where fear impels the players to a risk dominant strategy, potentially resulting in mutual destruction. Our conclusion is that interstellar contact is an underestimated existential risk. If true and given the relative ease of contacting an ETI given the knowledge of its location, information about the existence and location of an ETI would be very dangerous to spread. Thus, knowledge of an ETI and its location would constitute an information hazard.
37.	Jönsson, Li, et al. (författare) The thickening of futures 2021 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 134:December Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper engages with biodiversity loss. In particular, it focuses on observations and scientific facts: the decline of pollinators and what that entails for the co-living of humans and more-than-humans. This kind of work often reaches the publics as thin stories of limited futures.The article explores how to situate the issue of out-of-sync plant–pollinator relationships into thick, ongoing presents rather than as a distant future that is out of one’s own hands. This is done through a collaborative design project that experiments with various formats for staging more material, embodied and experiential ways to sensitise and invite humans to experience the issue of pollination. We therefore explore and give an account of how we have situated the issues in a thick, ongoing present as an anticipatory practice. We thus suggest a practice that becomes both sticky and sweaty; in addition, the practice moves some pollination facts into not only matters of concern but also matters of care.In doing so, we forward the role that design researchers can play in environmental and collaborative anticipation by engaging with emerging approaches to both biodiversity loss and collaborative future-making that are simultaneously conflicting and harsh as well as hopeful.
38.	Korsmeyer, Hannah, et al. (författare) Understanding feminist anticipation through ‘back-talk’ : 3 narratives of willful, deviant, and care-full co-design practices 2022 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 136, s. 102874-102874 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This article explores how co-design workshops might engage with the conditions that constrain our anticipation of more just futures. We discuss how practitioner commitments to feminisms might contribute to more critical exploration. Rather than exploring what practitioners should be doing in feminist futures-focused co-design, we seek a better understanding of how this practice unfolds and evolves. Therefore, the article discusses feminist anticipation from the perspective of three, first-person narratives. These accounts explore how practitioner ‘feminist tendencies’ become manifested in co-design materials. We also explore how the multi-directional ‘back-talk’ of workshop materials mediates how stakeholders, participants and the designers themselves co-anticipate contested, deviant, and plural futures. Borrowing the words from feminist scholar Sara Ahmed, these stories from practice seek to both answer and provoke the question: how are we unmaking how hard it is to deviate from what is expected?
39.	Kulkova, J., et al. (författare) Medicine of the future : How and who is going to treat us? 2023 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 146 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Medicine’s ability to quickly respond to challenges raises questions from researchers, practitioners, and society as a whole. Our task in this study was to identify key and atypical current factors influencing the development of medicine and to predict the development of medicine in the short, medium, and long term. To implement our study, we selected 22 medical experts and applied the three-level Delphi method. The current trends caused by COVID-19 have a short-term impact, but they will launch other drivers that will transform the healthcare industry. Well-being technologies, data-informed personalization, and climate change will become key drivers for the development of medicine over the period of 1â€“50 years. Expert opinion is divided about the future of mass availability of advanced medical treatment and sustainable development of healthcare.
40.	Lana, Marcos (författare) Innovative educational tools development for food security: Engaging community voices in Tanzania 2018 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 96, s. 79-89 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Food security projects have to use tools to interact with communities in order to approach a chain of interconnected problems, as well as to engage the plurality of community voices/actors in a growing future challenges scenarios. This work presents innovative educational tool developed to engaging community voices to understand food insecurity and to create local solutions. The 16 workshops inspired on the theory of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, involved a total of 270 participants across the four case studies in remote Tanzanian villages. The results show that community voices and local problem perceptions significantly differed between the case study regions, which had a strong impact on coping strategies and nutritional status. In Morogoro, e.g., food insecurity was mainly related to conflicts. Smallholders with anemia prefer to avoid meat and milk as these products come from livestock keepers who have destroyed their crop farm production. More than 70 local diverse solutions were identified. The acceptance of the educational tools used was highly appreciated at local level compared to more conventional procedures (e.g. questionnaires). The pedagogical methods applied in this work served to raise the communities' voices, to promote consciences about communities' problems, and reframing their images of the future. The understanding of community perceptions might help with the implementation of sustainable nutrition-sensitive innovations.
41.	Larsen, Katarina, et al. (författare) Environmental scenarios and local-global level of communityengagement : Environmental justice, jams, institutions and innovation 2011 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:4, s. 413-423 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract National climate change policy currently operates on a continuum from the local community to the supra-national level. These initiatives include local deliberative processes of low-carbon futures as well as local-global interactions in ‘eco-innovation jam’ dialogues carried out in a virtual space, but founded on communicating with local stakeholder groups. Experiences from national processes and international examples of these structured dialogues of community engagement raise important questions of environmental justice and deliberative processes that facilitate participation by some groups, but perhaps also neglect others. This is particularly relevant since the environmental justice discourse traditionally frames environmental concerns in a place-bound manner that includes local responses to environmental questions. In this paper we argue the importance of local and global forums and deliberative processes for community engagement in order to incorporate stakeholders’ perceptions of future options for low-carbon living, travelling and consuming services and products. Important policy transformations in planning for low-carbon societies are outlined and results from cases are discussed. We conclude with three remarks about the importance of citizen participation for understanding local conditions for change, processes of localized internationalization, and new roles for nation states facing the climate change challenge. We also recognise the importance of the local and global level of deliberative processes targeting sustainable urban futures.
42.	Lawhon, Mary, et al. (författare) Making heterogeneous infrastructure futures in and beyond the global south 2023 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 154 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Infrastructure has never been a single thing, understood in a universal way. Yet, there has long been a broad overarching orthodox approach in which ‘experts’ create replicable, stable, large, networked systems to control nature and ensure regular, predictable flows of people, materials and information. Within this orthodoxy, infrastructure is narrated as good, contributing to economic and social development. In this paper, we identify environmental, economic, political and social pressures challenging this approach to infrastructure, pushing for it to be understood, enacted and constructed differently. We then show how actors have responded to these pressures through examples of flood mitigation, corridor development and sanitation. Our cases are not pure instances of a new approach. Instead, we use them to tease out emergent efforts (and struggles) to rework infrastructure, to make it more fluid, flexible, sustainable and responsive to democratic demands, as well as to more clearly link infrastructure with well-being. These examples reinforce the importance of differentiating infrastructure, including considering how particular approaches imagine and contribute to sustainability and well-being. In this context, we point towards broader ideas of how infrastructure might be reimagined and remade in the future, and the difficult politics of such new visions.
43.	Lennerfors, Thomas Taro, 1979- (författare) A Buddhist Future for Capitalism? : Revising Buddhist Economics for the Era of Light Capitalism 2015 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 68:SI, s. 67-75 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This paper discusses Buddhist economics as a potential future for capitalism. In the 1970s, EF Schumacher proposed a form of Buddhist economics aimed at smallness, simplicity and non-violence. The major contribution of the present paper is to revise and update Schumacher’s and others’ work on Buddhist economics, first because of the changing spirit of capitalism from heavy to light capitalism and, second, because Schumacher’s critical perspective of Buddhism has not been sustained to the present day. Rather, Buddhism has been received in the West as a way of coping and as a harmonious philosophy. In order to face the future, the paper proposes a critical development of a Buddhist economics based on the principles of The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path. Apart from revising and updating Buddhist economics, the paper engages in a discussion with the organizational spirituality literature, which contributes to the analysis, and to which contributions are made, first by dividing the field into critical–negative and critical–constructive approaches; and second, by proposing a turn to principles for critical–constructive approaches.
44.	Light, Ann (författare) Collaborative speculation : Anticipation, inclusion and designing counterfactual futures for appropriation 2021 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 134 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract How do people become conversant with futures-in-the-making? This paper explores speculative design from the position that futures have agency in the present and therefore forms of speculation - as well as futures - need to be inclusive. Regarding this as a democratic right throws attention on engagement processes, noting that speculation is often centred on the designer's interests rather than seeding appropriation by publics. I argue that situating speculation in a way that is accessible for negotiation requires careful attention to the hybrid process + objectartifacts that result from designing both a provocation and a process for encountering it. My central case study describes one such hybrid artifact, a counterfactual workshop for considering futures by exploring different imagined pasts and making a journey towards alternative presents. This play of temporalities - and the accompanying methods for opening and narrowing the creative work of taking these journeys - suggest a means that speculative design might be situated with participants, thereby simultaneously reflecting on and mitigating the anticipatory nature of the materials. I deconstruct this instance of curating speculative artifacts to reveal not only its mechanisms, but the many points where engagement processes reflect political choices.
45.	Lindell, Rikard, 1973- (författare) The dialectics of digitalisation : A critique of the modernistic imperative for the development of digital technology 2024 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 162 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This text discusses today's digital transformation through the lens of Horkheimer and Adornos’ study of the enlightenment. Policy and public discourse around digitalisation embrace and adhere to the narrow tenets enlightenment thinking; the idea that rationality, individual freedom, and a society free from superstition are necessary and attainable goals. The costs of what has come to be called ‘Modernity’ are many. Through the application of rationality to all spheres of life, married with disruptive technological advancement, humanity has diminished its’ imagination – its ability to seek new directions. To paraphrase Horkheimer and Adorno, Modernism fights against nature, of which we are a part, and thus, paradoxically, sets us in a fight against ourselves. Environmental degradation, the price of progress, being just one example of this – deadening work, consumerism and severed social connections being amongst others. In this framing, digitalisation itself comes to be understood itself as akin to a force of nature – one that we can do little about, other than adjust and adapt or be swept away. But this by no means a foregone conclusion, there is light at the end of the optical fibre. Albeit that recent technical developments around artificial intelligence appears to be pushing policy makers into hasty decisions, the pace of the technical development is not as fast as we believe, and in comparison with the Reformation – we have time. If we can restrain ourselves from the resist, adapt or die responses promoted in popular discourse in face of the shock of large language models and rising threat of automation, then we create room to consider economic, social, and ecological alignment and accord, in the decision making and design of future interactive artefacts and digital services. The article argues that through postdigital aesthetics, technology makers can embrace materiality and the inherent qualities of digital technology to formulate a critique of existing trajectories in digital transformation, with consequences for a more sustainable future.
46.	Lindell, Rikard, 1973- (författare) The dialectics of digitalisation : A critique of the modernistic imperative for the development of digital technology 2024 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 162 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This text discusses today’s digital transformation through the lens of Horkheimer and Adornos’ study of the enlightenment. Policy and public discourse around digitalisation embrace and adhere to the narrow tenets enlightenment thinking; the idea that rationality, individual freedom, and a society free from superstition are necessary and attainable goals. The costs of what has come to be called ‘Modernity’ are many. Through the application of rationality to all spheres of life, married with disruptive technological advancement, humanity has diminished its’ imagination – its ability to seek new directions. To paraphrase Horkheimer and Adorno, Modernism fights against nature, of which we are a part, and thus, paradoxically, sets us in a fight against ourselves. Environmental degradation, the price of progress, being just one example of this – deadening work, consumerism and severed social connections being amongst others. In this framing, digitalisation itself comes to be understood itself as akin to a force of nature – one that we can do little about, other than adjust and adapt or be swept away. But this by no means a foregone conclusion, there is light at the end of the optical fibre. Albeit that recent technical developments around artificial intelligence appears to be pushing policy makers into hasty decisions, the pace of the technical development is not as fast as we believe, and in comparison with the Reformation – we have time. If we can restrain ourselves from the resist, adapt or die responses promoted in popular discourse in face of the shock of large language models and rising threat of automation, then we create room to consider economic, social, and ecological alignment and accord, in the decision making and design of future interactive artefacts and digital services. The article argues that through postdigital aesthetics, technology makers can embrace materiality and the inherent qualities of digital technology to formulate a critique of existing trajectories in digital transformation, with consequences for a more sustainable future.
47.	Lindh, Thomas, 1952-, et al. (författare) Predicaments in the futures of aging democracies 2008 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 40:3, s. 203-217 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Ageing societies need to supply support to an ever growing segment of elderly dependent population without compromising the future sustainability for the currently young or unborn population. Current tendencies to focus on policy solutions like automatic stabilisers and norm-based pre-commitment strategies with decisions delegated to experts carry a high risk of political breakdown when the future population re-evaluates this with new information. Using the Swedish pension reform as a concrete example we show how the futurity problem associated with the current non-existence of the future population makes the political process prone to avoid bringing issues with very long horizons into the public debate. Alternative demographic scenarios for Sweden are used to illustrate how even very small variations in the assumptions of demographic projections lead to radically different future population structures. Hence, the majority preferences in a distant future cannot be foreseen. Adding to this, the complex interactions with a changing environment of technology and nature time-consistent decision making at the far future horizon must be virtually impossible. Thus, the sustainability of long-term social security systems requires constitutional balances that provide for orderly and continual adaptation rather than once-for-all fixes that are likely to be rejected by future electorates.
48.	Lundgren, Björn (författare) Two notes on Axiological Futurism : The importance of disagreement and methodological implications for value theory 2023 Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 147 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract Recently, John Danaher defended a research agenda he calls Axiological Futurism. In this commentary, I propose two revisions for how that research agenda is defined. I argue that it ought to focus on disagreements and comparison of different axiologies.
49.	Malmaeus, Mikael, et al. (författare) Scenarios for sustainable futures beyond GDP growth 2050 2019 Ingår i: Futures. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
50.	Mauerhofer, Volker (författare) Social capital, social capacity and social carrying capacity : Perspectives for the social basics within environmental sustainability 2013 Ingår i: Futures: The journal of policy, planning and futures studies. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 53, s. 63-73 Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract This article aims to contribute to the continued development of a coherent theory and practical implementation of sustainable development in the social context. It does so by presenting a systematic discussion on 'social capital', 'social capacity' and 'social carrying capacity' under the umbrella of environmental carrying capacity regarding environmental sustainability. Based on an in-depth literature review, the relationship between social capital and human capital is assessed in detail, the overlap between the social capacity approach and different capability approaches closely discussed and the use as well as the meaning of social carrying capacity in science and in practice for environmental sustainability is more intensively explored. In summary, the results of the analysis provide for all the three assessed terms an innovative variety of possible new contributions to future policy proposals and research priorities for social sustainability regarding population growth, social riots, overwork and technical overload obeying the environmental limits. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Skapa referenser, mejla, bekava och länka

Länka till träfflistan

Träfflista för sökning "L773:0016 3287 OR L773:1873 6378 "

Avgränsa träffmängd

År