Where Have All the Futures Gone?
internal event
internal event
Where Have All the Futures Gone?
In his talk, Jens Beckert will explore why inclusive visions of the future have lost their influence in today's society. He argues that it's not just a matter of telling better stories, but of understanding the social conditions that make visions of the future powerful.
About
It is widely recognized that perceptions of the future play a crucial role in shaping social outcomes. Imaginations of how the future might unfold influence expectations, decision-making processes, and consequently the allocation of resources. While visions of socially inclusive futures have been prevalent over the past two centuries, many observers today note a widespread decline in future-oriented thinking across societies and political spectrums - what some describe as a "loss of the future" (Mauglin 2022).
This presentation will explore why inclusive social visions are so much less influential today than they were in the past. In contrast to those who argue that future stories simply need to be told more convincingly, Jens Beckert response highlights the social requirements of imagined futures.
Speaker
Jens Beckert has been Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and Professor of Sociology at the University of Cologne since 2005. He has previously taught in Göttingen, New York, Princeton, Paris, and at Harvard University. In 2018, he was awarded the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation. Beckert also received the Karl Polanyi Prize of the German Sociological Association for his book Imagined Futures. Fictional Expectations and Capitalist Dynamics.
Attendance
This is a closed event. Press inquiries can be made here.