Clash of visions : analysing practices of politicizing the future

Hausstein, Alexandra; Lösch, Andreas

doi:10.6094/behemoth.2020.13.1.1038

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The reference to the future as a meaning-making reference (Dobroć, 2022;Assmann, 2013;Luhmann, 1990;Luhmann, 1998) leads to a politicization of future (Dobroć, Lösch, & Roßmann, 2022). As different meanings, desires, and interests are ascribed to future visions, debates about the future become subject of politicization and contested future visions feed into societal debates (Hausstein & Lösch, 2020) about how we want to live. Another observation is that future visions are often pushed and interpreted by only a single or a few stakeholder groups, although they then influence broad sections of society (Lösch et al, 2021).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives of change: Strategies for inclusivity in shaping socio-technical future visions

Dobroć

Bögel

Upham

2023

Futures

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives of change: Strategies for inclusivity in shaping socio-technical future visions

Dobroć

Bögel

Upham

2023

Futures

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“…Research, e.g., from the sociology of expectations [13], on hegemonic socio-technical imaginaries [1], or from vision assessment in TA [14,15], has provided many insights into the mediality and performativity of future expectations, visions, and imaginaries in current processes of change in our "TechnoScienceSociety" [16]. Such visions serve as a resource in political economies because creating a focus on specific visions in socio-political debates and practices can be seen as capacity to increase value or mobilize support and, correspondingly, to stabilize or to transform existing power constellations [17]. While this research has shown the effects of visions on social reality, research on the complexities of sociotechnical transformations has pointed out the multi-dimensional nature of such large processes of change.…”

Section: Vision Assessment-visions and Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Contested Visions for Transformation—The Visions of the Green New Deal and the Politics of Technology Assessment, Responsible Research and Innovation, and Sustainability Research

2022

Self Cite

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Societal transformations are contested. The goals and visions of transformations, as well as the means and strategies to achieve them, are born in political conflict and power constellations. Which transformations are seen as desirable and possible by democratic majorities changes throughout history. This is the political reality where research for transformations finds itself. Technology assessment (TA), responsible research and innovation (RRI), and sustainability research (SR) are a part of such contestations. They engage in envisioning, debating, analyzing, and evaluating different visions of and options for the future. In this article we turn to visions of the future as a key aspect of societal contestation and the shaping of interfaces between research for transformations and society. Based on the approach of vision assessment developed in TA, we situate TA, RRI, and SR within visions of research and social order. We argue that in these politicized times it is increasingly necessary to understand how research relates to larger visions of society and the contested nature of transformations. We turn to one of the major contemporary visions for societal transformation: The Green New Deal (GND). This vision imagines a large-scale transformation of society and the economy towards sustainability and justice and is currently debated in major political institutions and social movements. It presents an ongoing case of the “making of the future”, which is highly relevant for TA, RRI, and SR. We show how this vision is creating new knowledge and social arrangements and how it is opening up new possibilities for transformational research. The article discusses the implications that a possible further impact of GND visions in politics may have for TA, RRI, and SR, and, relatedly, how expertise and insights from TA, RRI, and SR could significantly add to the GND debate.

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“…The meanings ascribed to technologies in terms of their potential and future implications as “game changers” are often contested, and driven by contradictory political, economic, and other interests (e.g. [ 1 – 3 ].). In this way, power attributions are produced in society on the basis of future perceptions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformation through (re-)politicisation of socio-technical futures: how cultural semiotics can improve transformative vision assessment

Dobroć

Lösch

2023

Eur J Futures Res

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The politicisation of the future is gaining attention, especially in research on the impact of emerging technologies on modern societies. This observation has motivated technology assessment (TA) and related research in science and technology studies (STS) to involve transformative practices in their examination of existing socio-technical futures in order to adapt them to societal needs. To this end, participation processes are initiated that aim to bring together different stakeholders, from research and development and beyond, to debate existing visions of the future and to confront the different stakeholders with their own ideas and the consequences thereof. Currently, however, especially in the context of responsible research and innovation (RRI), voices are also calling for reflection on the process of participation itself. We reflect on the process of framing discussions in society based on technical visions of the future from a cultural studies perspective.Building on cultural semiotic analysis and our definition of visions of the future as cultural techniques, this paper discusses the consequences of the orientation along the future in transformative research. Cultural semiotics provides a kind of meta-reflection on the role of research in TA and STS on the politicisation of the future. We fall back on the definition of visions of the future as cultural techniques to show that visions of the future not only originate in modern culture, but also contribute to its further development.Using the example of the transformative vision assessment project on 3D printing futures conducted within the research cluster “3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O)”, and based on the cultural semiotic approach, we reflect on the prerequisites and limitations of the politicisation of the future and the intervention of transformative vision assessment in politicisation processes. The limitation stems from the fact that vision assessment, and more generally TA, is oriented in its intervention towards visions of the future and thus itself contributes to the further politicisation of the future. To elaborate the preconditions of the dynamic and culture-changing effects of visions of the future, we turn to the concept of cultural mechanism to grasp different steps of the politicisation processes in which vision assessment practices are involved. The role of vision assessment in the politicisation process is unavoidable; however, it can be mitigated by meta-reflection on its own orientation to the future.

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Clash of visions : analysing practices of politicizing the future

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Narratives of change: Strategies for inclusivity in shaping socio-technical future visions

Narratives of change: Strategies for inclusivity in shaping socio-technical future visions

Contested Visions for Transformation—The Visions of the Green New Deal and the Politics of Technology Assessment, Responsible Research and Innovation, and Sustainability Research

Transformation through (re-)politicisation of socio-technical futures: how cultural semiotics can improve transformative vision assessment

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