JS-81
Epistemes, Ethics, and Methods of Futures Research in an Era of Multipolar Turbulences
Abstract Submissions Closed
RC07 Futures Research (host committee)
RC16 Sociological Theory
Language: Spanish and English
Session Type: Oral
The ISA Research Committees on Futures Research (RC07) and Sociological Theory (16) are planning one or more Joint Sessions on epistemes, ethics, and methods of futures research in an era of multipolar turbulence.
The social sciences have in recent years renewed their interest in the ‘future’. This increases the importance to bring the different approaches of futures research into dialogue. To what extent are they compatible or in tensions with one another? What are the field’s fundamental assumptions, and what is the methodological state of the art? This Joint Session welcomes theoretical papers and theory-reflective empirical case-study or research reports that address questions such as: What are the meanings of ‘future’? What, if anything, can be known about the future? How is knowledge or non-knowledge about the future constituted? What makes a scenario possible, probable, or preferable? How are risks calculated, visualized, or obscured? From trend projections to Delphi interviews to iterative future labs, what particular methods fit what type of study? What are the implications of time-frame, spatial scale, and contextual scope for research outcomes? Who produces, disseminates, and validates professional futures research for what purposes and with what consequences? How do the turbulences and disruptions associated with environmental degradation, climate change, digitization, and multipolar globalization transform (un)certainties? To whom are futures studies available? What normative assumptions are built into the practice of futures research? How can sociological futures research engage with broader publics and democratize futures?
See more of: RC16 Sociological Theory
Back to: Full Group Listing