The Double-Edged Futures: On How Furture Discourses Enable and Constrain Change

Future has recently re-emerged at the forefront of the agendas of sociology and interdisciplinary fields. Scholars have diagnosed the social “discovery” of the future as a means of prediction and shaping the present. In this context, future discourses and representations are often framed as the key to broader institutional and material change. This enabling role has been examined particularly in light of climate change and sustainable transitions.

Yet futures might also be seen as a cage that stalls rather than enables change. First, future discourses are frequently "colonized" by representations of “fictional” technoscientific developments, redirecting attention away from existing social and ecological problems. Second, future work and anticipatory practices “capture” the future within established pathways, thereby excluding alternatives. Third, futures are bound up with power, being strategically produced by incumbent organizations to reproduce existing hierarchies and social inequalities. Finally, scholars have shown how deeply sedimented cultural meanings predefine which futures are discussed, gain societal traction, and are socially disseminated.

This session invites empirical and theoretical scholarship exploring the dual nature of the future within sociotechnical change processes. We welcome contributions that explore the enabling potential of futures but also critically examine how it hinders change toward sustainability, constrains efforts to cope with other societal challenges, reinforces hegemonic structures, or serves as a tool of closure. By bridging perspectives from the sociology of science and technology with those focused on innovation, futures, and sustainability, the session aims to foster reflection on future discourses on technoscientific developments across digital and sustainable transitions.