Globalized Science. The 1970s Futures Field

Abstract

Abstract. In the 1970s, the futures field became globalized. This paper shows how perceptions of globality shaped interdisciplinary approaches towards forecasting, planning and thinking about the future. Futures studies were reconceptualized, shifting its perspective from a West-East, technology-driven slant towards a global and human-centred one around 1970. The perceptions and conceptions of globality came out of notions of global interdependence, which emerged from three root sources. The first was the epistemic context of cybernetics and systems analysis, which had shaped the 1950s and 1960s futures studies and had led researchers to aspirations of being able to model the world system. The second, affecting significant sections of the field, was the web of new ecological ideas and their focus on interrelations within the global ecosystem. Third, futures studies took up dependency theories, responding to the rising voice of the global South and new ideas of a New International Economic Order. The futures field was not only influenced by 1970s events, it itself contributed to cultural and social change by enhancing the crisis perceptions and environmentalism of the early years of the decade and by stimulating notions of 'One World' solidarity. Through their insistence on the interdependence of environment and development, 'futurists' then laid the basis for conceptions of sustainable development. Keywords. Club of Rome, development, future(s) studies, global interdependence, humankind, World Future Studies FederationIn 1973, the World Future Research Conference postulated, in a memorandum, that 'we must strive towards a new general understanding of our global interdependence and limitations if we are to have a society that does not destroy itself and us' (IRADES and WFRC, 1973, 1, p. 10). The Rome Conference committee, which represented the newly established World Future Studies Federation and the affiliated Italian Istituto Ricerche Applicate Documentazione e Studi, proclaimed global interdependence and the need to give thought to coming global problems. It highlighted the danger of humankind destroying itself and was alert to the implications of present and future globality.There was a shift in the futures field around 1970. Futures studies' mental maps changed from having a simple West-East axis towards acquiring a global perspective, and many 'futurists' got engaged in propagating a global future. Related to this, technology-driven approaches lost influence whereas a human-centred perspective gained new ground. In forming the perceptions and scenarios of globality, notions of global interdependence played a decisive role. They came from three root sources. The first was the epistemic

Development tendencies and turning points of futures studies

“…Futures studies underwent a conceptual makeover, moving from a West-East, technologically driven viewpoint to a global, human-centered one. In addition to being impacted by events of the 1970s, the futures field enhanced crisis perceptions and environmentalism, which in turn contributed to cultural and societal change [116]. The foundation for ideas of sustainable development was then established by futurists' emphasis on the relationship between the environment and development.…”