JS-24
Contested Futures of the South

Monday, 11 July 2016: 09:00-10:30
Location: Hörsaal 33 (Main Building)
RC07 Futures Research (host committee)
RC09 Social Transformations and Sociology of Development

Language: English

During the last years we observe a renaissance of social protest movements in the South. They do not only challenge their government or existing economic structures but express their own concepts of a (better) future – the future they want. Examples are the “Arab Spring”, the Brazilian protest movement before and after the football world cup, protests in Burkina Faso after an army take over or movements for consumer rights in India. Their concepts for the future may be directed towards freedom or development, may express the desire for better conditions of living or consumption, or the concepts may refer to tradition religion or claim moral standards. However, even when the movements represent considerable parts of the societies, they are hardly uncontested. The visions of the future are at stake, intensively debated and more often than not in conflict with other visions. 
The session aims to analyse these conflicts and the contested concepts and visions of the future in the Global South. Examples of questions that we would like to be addressed in this session are: 

  • What are the conflicting visions and concepts of the future in particular countries or regions? 
  • Who are the carriers of these concepts and visions? 
  • Do we observe particular regional or global trends, or waves of particular concepts and visions? 
  • Under which societal conditions do particular concepts and visions emerge?

Session Organizer:
Dieter NEUBERT, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Chair:
Elisio MACAMO, University of Basel, Switzerland, Switzerland
Posters:
Contested Futures in the MENA Region
Pamela ABBOTT, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom; Andrea TETI, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Kenyan Visions of the Future Between Individual Advancement, Uncertainty and Political Hopes
Dieter NEUBERT, University of Bayreuth, Germany; Florian STOLL, University of Bayreuth, Germany