Niagaras fasad i strålande solljus.

Welcome to a publicly open ICF Future Thoughts with the editorial team of the journal Fronesis’s!

The concept of the future

Welcome to the future! But which future? The concept of the future is both ambiguous and politically charged. On one hand, it is portrayed as a natural extension of the past and as something that can be planned, governed, and predicted. On the other hand, the notion of futures in the plural opens up to struggles between different visions, and a renegotiation of the historical narratives that legitimize certain futures over others. In this sense, the future is not only about the time ahead of us, but also about rewriting the past to make some futures conceivable and others inconceivable.

About the issue

In issues 86–87 of Fronesis [a journal in Swedish], the concept of the future is explored in a time when the fundamental conditions for political work have drastically changed. We are facing what is called a meta-crisis: climate change, growing authoritarian forces, and increasing inequalities—all interconnected. The Issue problematizes the Western modernity’s idea of linear progress and examines how “smart futures” and acceleration politics risk deepening today’s crises. But it also offers alternatives through perspectives that emphasize slowness over acceleration and collective care over individual survival.

Various text

The issue includes an interview with Belgian philosopher Isabelle Stengers on fast and slow science, a classic text by British Marxist Raymond Williams on how survival calculations have replaced belief in the future, and Nigerian-German psychologist Báyò Akómoláfé’s reflections on activism and agency. There are also texts by, among others, activist adrienne maree brown, the collective Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures (GTDF), author Ursula K. Le Guin, environmental humanities researcher Kati Lindström, and theologian Jayne Svenungsson.

Editorial team

Charlotte Fridolfsson, Ylva Gislén, Dalia Mukhtar-Landgren, Carolina Pettersson, Lina Rahm och Åsa Ståhl.

Additional activity

After the event at MAU, you are welcome to join us for a short walk to Media Evolution and their Book Talk with the editorial team.

Media Evolution | Framtider – Book Talk

 

Faculty of Education and Society

The Faculty of Education and Society offers professional training in the fields of schools, culture, leisure and sport. The...

Faculty of Culture and Society

At the Faculty of Culture and Society, research and education concerns many of the major issues of our time – for example those...

School of Arts and Communication

At the School of Arts and Communication (K3), we work with interdisciplinary education and research in media, culture and...

Department of Childhood, Education and Society

This department runs one of the country’s largest preschool teacher training programmes, as well as primary teacher training...

Contact