Envisioning Futures: Biographical Possibilities, Systemic Constraints, and Challenges for Social Research

Over the past two decades, the socio-economic and cultural shifts identified by theorists of the "second modernity"- namely, the intensification of individualization, the rise of the risk society, and the precarization of social bonds - have fully solidified. Moreover, the radicalization of specific trends, particularly those linked to rapid technological advancement, has broadened the scope of these dynamics at play.

Consequently, the deinstitutionalization of biographical trajectories has resulted in life paths that are simultaneously more open yet increasingly vulnerable to the accelerating pace of systemic trends. Furthermore, young adults face unprecedented challenges in envisioning desirable and achievable futures, especially given the unequal distribution of material and symbolic resources.

This context urgently demands an update to the methodological and interpretive frameworks used to examine the nexus between (im)possible life trajectories and (im)plausible futures. On a theoretical level, this requires understanding the key variables that shape the capacity to "imagine" the future at a biographical level. Methodologically, it calls for epistemological approaches that move beyond present-centric analyses, which are often flattened on to the verification of already defined conditions and interventions. It is necessary to engage critically and creatively with "not-yetness," shifting from traditional problem-solving to anticipatory approaches of inventive problem-making.

To achieve this, future-oriented methods, within the field of Futures Studies, and speculative approaches allow researchers to examine subjects' agency within decision-making processes occurring in the "future-present." These methods foster narratives and devices that explore plural, open futures without eluding the material, social and symbolic conditions within which biographies are constructed.