Theorizing Economic Imagined Futures from the South: Coloniality, Dependency and Radical Alternatives

This paper provides a broad overview of the theoretical contributions a “Global South perspective” can make to the literature on political-economic imagined futures, with a specific focus on Latin America and southern Africa. The vibrant literature on imagined futures in political economy contributes greatly to our understanding of the role that uncertainty and credible expectations play in capitalist dynamics. Although this work is crucial, it has tended to focus on the Global North and therefore it does not adequately capture capitalism as it is experienced by the majority of the world. Conversely, there is a burgeoning and fascinating literature on imagined futures in the Global South. Yet there is a tendency to focus on cultural and literary dimensions instead of political economy. This paper begins to address the gap by attempting to rethink the temporality and future-orientation of capitalism from the vantage point of the South. This perspective would challenge the trope of an “open future” associated with capitalism in the North and would rather foreground experiences of the closure of alternatives to capitalism. Relatedly, it questions a linear temporality of progress, development and “foreword movement”. Furthermore, it revises concepts of innovation and growth and highlights notions of imperialism, dependency and stagnation. However, the Global South is not simply characterized by exploitation; it is also a source of utopias and socio-economic alternatives to capitalism. These utopias and proposals for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) are often perceived as failures. Yet new perspectives on these “past futures” might provide crucial insights as we attempt to address the current multidimensional crises of capitalism.