Post on 04-Mar-2023
Exploring Long-Term
Human Futures
Futures studies and social research:
Visions for progress in policy and planning
Social Research Association
7 July 2009London
Dr. Wendy L. SchultzInfinite Futures
History of FS in Brief
• From mechanism to organism• Depression and revolution:
planning economies• Post - WWII:
• Re-visioning Europe• Re-defining national identity
and charting its course• Operationalising the USA’s
golden age• Developing the centrally
planned economies
History of FS in Brief
• From mechanism to organism• Depression and revolution:
planning economies• Post - WWII:
• Re-visioning Europe• Re-defining national identity
and charting its course• Operationalising the USA’s
golden age• Developing the centrally
planned economies
Early FS post-World War II:Region Focus Futures
approachPrimary Methods
Key Thinkers
Europe Re-buildingPhilosophical and
visionary
Images & visioning, planning, la prospective
F. Polak, Pierre Masse, B. de
Jouvenel,
USAResource
allocation and production
Quantitative, technical,
method-based
Systems modelling, Delphi, scenarios
Meadows, Kahn, Helmer, Gordon, Glenn, de Geus
Socialist Economies
Planning the central
economy
Econometric forecasting
Quantitative; trend extrapolation; goal-based forecasting
Malitza, Novaky, Sicinski, Zeman,
Markovic
Developing world
Nation buildingVisioning,
econometrics, post modernism
Planning, trend extrapolation, critical analysis
El Mandjra, Ahamed, Sardar
Early:Association Internationale Futuribles (www.futuribles.com);Club of Rome (www.clubofrome.org);World Futures Studies Federation (www.wfsf.org);World Future Society (www.wfs.org).
More recent:Association of Professional Futurists (www.profuturists.com);Club of Amsterdam (www.clubofamsterdam.com);Club of Budapest (www.clubo$udapest.org);European Professional Futurists Conference Lucerne (www.european-futurists.org);The Kenos Circle (www.kenos.at).
Futures Studies Organizations.
Futures publications:Classic texts:- Dator’s “classics” bibliography at: http://www.infinitefutures.com/resources/bibliojad.shtml
- Inayatullah’s annotated futures bibliography at: http://www.metafuture.org/bio.htm
- Slaughter’s annotated bibliography at: http://foresightinternational.com.au/catalogue/product_info.php?cPath=44&products_id=115
Journals and periodicals:– Foresight: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/fs.htm
– Futures: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00163287
– Future Survey: http://www.wfs.org/fsurv.htm
– Futures Research Quarterly: http://www.wfs.org/frq.htm
– Journal of Futures Studies: http://www.jfs.tku.edu.tw
– On The Horizon: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/oth.htm
– Technological Forecasting and Social Change: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625
– World Futures: http://www.gbhap.com/journals/titles/02604027.asp
A robust variety.
• University:• 10 Graduate Programs Globally• 90 Graduate Programs wth a
Futures Focus or Courses• Endowments for Research Centers• Growing Consulting Field• Increasing Government Initiatives
Courtesy John Smarthttp://www.accelerating.org/gradprograms.html
Diversity. Philosophical Futurists
Planners and Prospective
Quantitative Forecasting
Operational Analysis and Systems Dynamics
“21st Century Studies”
Macrohistories and Macrohistorians
Marxists, neo-Marxists, Critical Theorists
Boomers, Doomers, and Trans-hum-ers
Convergence.
• Complex Evolving Systems• Analyse Images and Narratives• Explore Alternative Futures• Strategic and Accountable• Post-disciplinary• A Global Dialogue:
• Focus: long-range future for humanity and the planet -- the global problematique;
• Participatory and inclusive;• Disturbs the present.
New paradigms bracket uncertainty:
From the Newtonian clockwork to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: the loss of predictability.
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From whole systems analysis to complex adaptive systems and chaos theory: beyond order and randomness to emergence.
TIMELINESSYSTEMS MAPS
HORIZON SCANNINGTREND FORECASTSIMPACT MAPPING
USED & DISOWNED FUTURESFUTURES TRIANGLE
SCENARIOSINFLECTION POINTSDECISION HORIZONS
IMAGES of the FUTURESYSTEMS THINKING
SOCIAL CHANGE THEORIESTRANS-DISCIPLINARY
CRITICALTRANSFORMATIONAL
PARTICIPATORYLONG-RANGE
Alternative possible futures...
! Reality is a non-linear -- i.e., chaotic -- system, and thus impossible to predict;
! Possible futures emerge from the turbulent interplay of emerging change with our complex evolving selves and societies.
trends
innovations
revolutions, etc.
possibility one
possibility two
possibility three
…etc.
! A basic assumption of futures studies: not one future, but many possible futures;
! of those possible futures, some are more probable than others -- evaluate changing probabilities by monitoring trend growth;
! of those possible futures, some are more preferable than others -- evaluate preferability by dialogue within community.
Alternative possible futures...
Foresight question & context
Profession, field, market
Organisation / community
Problem / question
Politics
Demographics
Economy
Environment
Science
Art, play
Technology
Lifestyles
Foresight: 4 Modes & 5 Key Activities
4 Thinking Modes:
Logical
Creative
Systemic
Intuitive
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5 Foresight Activities:Identify and monitor change;
Map and critique impacts;
Imagine alternative outcomes;
Envision preferred futures;
Organise and act to create change.
TIMELINESSYSTEMS MAPS
HORIZON SCANNINGTREND FORECASTSIMPACT MAPPING
USED & DISOWNED FUTURESFUTURES TRIANGLE
SCENARIOSINFLECTION POINTSDECISION HORIZONS
IMAGES of the FUTURESYSTEMS THINKING
SOCIAL CHANGE THEORIESTRANS-DISCIPLINARY
CRITICALTRANSFORMATIONAL
PARTICIPATORYLONG-RANGE
Five Key Activitiesof Integrated Foresight
Identifypatterns ofchange:trends inchosenvariables,changes incycles, andemergingissues ofchange.
Examineprimary,secondary,tertiaryimpacts;inequities inimpacts;differentialaccess, etc.
Identify,analyze, andbuildalternativeimages ofthe future,or’scenarios.’
Identify,analyze,andarticulateimages ofpreferredfutures, or’visions.’
Identifystakeholders,resources;clarify goals;designstrategies;organizeaction; createchange.
Identify &Monitor Change
CritiqueChange
Imaginethe Possible
Envisionthe Preferred
Plan &Implement
Inte*grated* Foresight
A Futures Framework
CourtesyProf. Peter C. Bishop
MS Program in Futures StudiesUniversity of Houston
http://www.tech.uh.edu/futureweb
Dr. Peter C. Bishop, Studies of the Future, UH-Clear Lake
Alternative futuresAlternative futures
Information sources• texts• experts• organizations• periodicals• websites
Information sources• texts• experts• organizations• periodicals• websites
History• previous eras
separated by events/discontinuities
• the current “era”beginning with themost recentdiscontinuities
History• previous eras
separated by events/discontinuities
• the current “era”beginning with themost recentdiscontinuities
ImpactsImplicationsImpacts
Implications
ImpactsImplicationsImpacts
Implications
Response• policy• plans• actions
Response• policy• plans• actions
© Dr. Peter Bishop, 2000
Framework Forecasting
Forces of change• ongoing trends• potential events• emerging issues• new ideas
Forces of change• ongoing trends• potential events• emerging issues• new ideas
UncertaintyUncertainty
}Current conditions
• social• technological• economic• environmental• political
Current conditions• social• technological• economic• environmental• political
STAKEHOLDERS
EffectsInformation
Research
Scanning
Leading indicatorsLeading
indicators
Baseline futureBaseline future
WILDCARD!!
TIME
number of cases; degree
of public
awareness
local; few cases; emerging
issues
global; multiple dispersed cases; trends and megatrends
scientists; artists; radicals; mystics
specialists’ journals and websites
layperson’s magazines, websites, documentaries
newspapers, news magazines
government institutions
Mapping a trend’s diffusion into public awareness from its starting point as an emerging issue of change.
adapted from Graham Molitor
Change: issue life-cycle.
Identifying Sources of Surprise:
Source acquisition: opinion leaders.– Science, technology, innovation: sources in
which those communities themselves announce news.
– Social and cultural change: sources expressing values and ideas bubbling among artists, youth, marginalised communities; often ‘fringe’ publications or media.
• Sources of surprise:– Look for challenges to scientific paradigms;– Look for challenges to the status quo.
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TIMELINESSYSTEMS MAPS
HORIZON SCANNINGTREND FORECASTSIMPACT MAPPING
USED & DISOWNED FUTURESFUTURES TRIANGLE
SCENARIOSINFLECTION POINTSDECISION HORIZONS
IMAGES of the FUTURESYSTEMS THINKING
SOCIAL CHANGE THEORIESTRANS-DISCIPLINARY
CRITICALTRANSFORMATIONAL
PARTICIPATORYLONG-RANGE
Sources of ChallengeGovernment desire for
advanced warning.Political culture: need to look responsible, authoritative NOT tentative;Scientific culture: need to assemble credible, objective, data-based arguments
Horizon scanning:• Beginning of research, not end;• “N of 1”;• Unearths contradictions;• Subjective, not objective;• “Unscientific” sources;• Systems-based;• Unfamiliar concepts.
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Research criteria:Credible;Documented;Authoritative;Statistically significant;
• Scanning:–Questionable credibility;–Difficult to document;–Fringe sources;–Case studies --
statistically insignificant.
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Research vs. scanning…
Research vs. scanning…
Research criteria:Coherent: data agree;Consensus: experts agree;Theoretically grounded;Mono-disciplinary.
• Scanning:–Incoherent -- data
varies widely;–Experts disagree or
attack outright;–Demands new
theories;–Multi-disciplinary.
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Analytic DepthIntegral Futures (Slaughter, 1999)
Melds FS with Wilbur’s integral philosophy
Four quadrants: individual exterior world; collective exterior; collective internal; and individual internal
Causal Layered Analysis (Inayatullah, various)
Four layers: litany/events; systems/structures; values/worldviews; and myths/metaphors.
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IMAGES of the FUTURESYSTEMS THINKING
SOCIAL CHANGE THEORIESTRANS-DISCIPLINARY
CRITICALTRANSFORMATIONAL
PARTICIPATORYLONG-RANGE
TIMELINESSYSTEMS MAPS
HORIZON SCANNINGTREND FORECASTSIMPACT MAPPING
USED & DISOWNED FUTURESFUTURES TRIANGLE
SCENARIOSINFLECTION POINTSDECISION HORIZONS
“Litany”events, trends, problems, “word on the street,” media spin, official positions.
“Causes”structures, inter-relationships, systems, technical and policy explanations
“Worldview” culture, values, how language frames/constrains the issue
“Myth/Metaphor”Collective archetypes, emotional responses, visual images
CLA
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IMAGES of the FUTURESYSTEMS THINKING
SOCIAL CHANGE THEORIESTRANS-DISCIPLINARY
CRITICALTRANSFORMATIONAL
PARTICIPATORYLONG-RANGE
TIMELINESSYSTEMS MAPS
HORIZON SCANNINGTREND FORECASTSIMPACT MAPPING
USED & DISOWNED FUTURESFUTURES TRIANGLE
SCENARIOSINFLECTION POINTSDECISION HORIZONS
Integral Futures | Causal Layers
Individual
Collective
Interior Exterior
BEHAVIORAL
SOCIAL
INTENTIONAL
CULTURAL
Subjective
Inter-Subjective
Objective
Inter-Objective
“WORLDVIEWS, MENTAL MODELS”
“MYTHS, METAPHORS”
“LITANIES”
“CAUSES, SYSTEMS”
measurable
interpreted
Evidence-based Policy
Comfort Zone
‘Science’ vs. FR/S: design differences
theory formation vs. futures articulationreductionist vs. systemic & holisticexperimental vs. descriptivelinear systems vs. complex & chaotic systems
• predictive vs. exploratory
• reproducible results vs. insights
• one hard ’truth’ vs. multiple soft ’alternatives’
• value-neutral vs. value-loaded
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‘Scientists’ vs. Futurists: researchers’ roles
objective vs. subjective
observer vs. facilitator/participant
knowledge revealer vs. change agent
reporting vs. performing
• Futures studies assumes that the point of exploring multiple possible outcomes is to help people create the futures they desire: active, value-focussed research.
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