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Abstract
That images of the future motivate behavior in the present is a theory with both socio-historical and psychological evidence. Due to the difficulty of generating positive images of the future in the nuclear age, in contrast to the Utopian imagery of earlier ages, an experimental workshop was developed by Boulding and Ziegler to help people imagine positive futures—specifically, to image a future world without weapons. The workshop procedures are described, and three case examples are given of imaging groups with widely different background characteristics. Participants were able to create positive imagery in the workshop setting, and their imagery varied according to the background of the participating group. The paper explores the relationships among the intensity of the imaging experience, its saliency for the imager, and the action readiness of the imager; and it raises questions about the role of imaging workshops in the peace movement and the kinds of research that might make such workshops more effective.
... Futures workshop is a widely used participatory futures method for producing and communicating views and ideas on futures [32]. Originally developed to encourage people to take part in the creation of their futures [27], it nowadays has various purposes such as facilitating discussions on futures [18], enhancing learning [49], spurring creativity [10], producing alternative future images [26], generating innovations [23], and engaging with uncertainty [41]. In Jennifer Gidley's [20] typology for future studies, futures workshops are placed on participatory futures that seeks for transformation through engagement and participation. ...
... The aim is often to enable sustainable futures (e.g., [4,13,14,16,59]) with an emphasis on assisting decision-making or empowering individuals [45]. Elise Boulding, who ran a series of visioning workshops for peace building with Warren Ziegler in the 1980s [20], was convinced that participation in workshop has a "psychologically empowering effect" ( [10] p. 36). ...
Futures workshop is a participatory futures research method for producing views on futures and facilitating transformation and empowerment. Since different workshop methods are generally considered to have many advantages, they are widely used in various futures contexts. However, there is little knowledge on how futures participation entails empowerment for thinking and acting on futures. This paper studies participants’ futures thinking and action in relation to their workshop experience. As psychological constructs for engaging with futures, the concepts of human agency and futures consciousness are used for the analysis. The study examines two futures workshops organized in Finland for farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural sector using the futures consciousness scale pre-post survey, an open-ended follow-up survey, and thematic interviews. The results of the study show that although there was no statistically significant change in futures consciousness, the workshop experience is absorbed into participants’ daily reality, provoking their uses of futures. By analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, it is thus concluded that the ways in which futures participation empowers futures thinking and action are not, and should not be held, evident. Therefore, it is proposed that regarding their empowerment assumptions, participatory futures methods should perform deeper self-consideration as anticipatory practice.
... Many authors from the field of Futures Studies have already argued that people's images of the future could have a substantial effect on the evolution and the wellbeing of society (Boulding, 1994;Dator, 1996;Hicks, 1996;Polak, 1961Polak, /1973. Hopes and fears of the population often influence their decisions and actions in the present. ...
... Finally, we want to address the results related to the desirable future scenarios. The first and overall finding is that people in all countries clearly preferred and longed for a social and sustainable future much more than an individualist, competitive and materialistic world, supporting past research (see for example Boulding, 1994;Hicks, 1996). However, in most European countries the gap between the mostly desired sustainable future and the less favored individualist and competitive future is much more pronounced than in other countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and India. ...
This open access book presents an integrative and transdisciplinary conceptualization of hope and brings together cross-cultural studies based on quantitative data from around the globe. It incorporates state-of-the-art theories of hope from psychology, philosophy and theology and presents a novel approach to the study of hope in different life situations. The volume analyses empirical data from the Hope Barometer international research network, collected from more than 40,000 participants between 2017 and 2021. The authors use this broad database to investigate the nature and value of hope for well-being and flourishing at individual and societal levels, in various regions, and different cultural, religious and social backgrounds. The chapters study the cultural characteristics of different facets and elements of hope and furthermore explore its common qualities to elucidate the universal nature of hope across cultures. Comprehensive, transdisciplinary and cross-cultural in scope, this volume is of interest to a global readership across the social and behavioural sciences.
... Many authors from the field of Futures Studies have already argued that people's images of the future could have a substantial effect on the evolution and the wellbeing of society (Boulding, 1994;Dator, 1996;Hicks, 1996;Polak, 1961Polak, /1973. Hopes and fears of the population often influence their decisions and actions in the present. ...
... Finally, we want to address the results related to the desirable future scenarios. The first and overall finding is that people in all countries clearly preferred and longed for a social and sustainable future much more than an individualist, competitive and materialistic world, supporting past research (see for example Boulding, 1994;Hicks, 1996). However, in most European countries the gap between the mostly desired sustainable future and the less favored individualist and competitive future is much more pronounced than in other countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and India. ...
The purpose of this chapter is to extend and explore the definition of collective hope as the shared desire for a better future not only for oneself, but for the entire social community, the belief that a better future for all is possible but not necessarily guaranteed or even likely, and the trust in the human capacity to cooperate and support each other towards the realization of a better world despite current struggles and challenges. Conceptually we chose an interdisciplinary approach, integrating insights from Positive Psychology, Futures Studies, and Pragmatic Hope Philosophy. After introducing the concept of collective hope we present the nature and role of images of the future in terms of probable, possible and desired future trends and scenarios. Based on data collected with the Hope Barometer across 12 countries in November 2019 (N = 10,665), we evaluated people’s long-term future expectations regarding the general quality of life, social trends and expected as well as wished-for future scenarios. We then related these expectations to perceived hope and social well-being. Our results suggest that long-term social expectations are significantly more pessimistic in European than in non-European countries and that personal hope levels are significantly higher in countries outside Europe. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of participants in this study preferred a social-sustainable over an individualist-competitive future scenario. Whereas future prospects had a significant effect on hope and (social) well-being, desirable images of the future hardly displayed an effect. Our findings highlight the importance of encouraging people to develop new positive pictures of the future which could foster hope, belief, and trust in a flourishing and sustainable world and to get engaged in its realization.
... While the research on the effect of the arts in conflict transformation is limited, initiatives in this field are proven more successful than many standard conflict resolution tools (Gold, 2006). Examples include the use of mental imaging to imagine a different world in Boulding's and Ziegler's future workshops (see Boulding, 1995), the use of creative writing to heal the traumatic experiences of U.S. soldiers in the Operation Homecoming programme (see Nea.gov, 2012) and the learning of each other's folk dances to re-humanise the enemy in former Yugoslavia (see Burns et al., 2003). In the case of Cyprus, where negotiations on an institutional level seem stagnant, the arts have played an important role in the process of rapprochement on a grassroots level (Ungerleider, 1999;Gold, 2006). ...
... 4. Lastly, the research adjusted a previous workshop model taken from the field of peace-research and applied it to a new conflict case. Specifically, it used Ziegler's and Boulding's future imagining workshops -previously used to envision a world of nuclear disarmament or of acceptance of homosexuality-and applied it through questionnaires and animations to imagine a shared future in Cyprus (see Boulding, 1995). It also expanded the workshop -in this study adjusted in the form of a questionnaire-to incorporate it's results into original animation. ...
This research investigates the potential of animation to act as a
tool for peace-building. It specifically takes the conflict
between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots as case study. It
is a cross-disciplinary, value-driven, practice-led inquiry,
affiliated with the paradigm of constructivism and the approach
of participatory action research. It triangulates the
interchangeable qualitative methods of conflict case mapping
and assessment, of questionnaires and of reflective animation
practice to demonstrate that animation can indeed assist
peace-building. The main fields of study that this inquiry deals
with are peace research -located within social sciences- and
the field of animation, situated within the field of the arts -as
opposed to computer science-. Key authors influencing the
study include Johan Galtung, Elise and Kenneth Boulding, Carol
Rank, Cynthia Cohen, Susan Sontag and Yiannis Papadakis. The
values that drive the research derive from the paradigm of
positive peace, developed by Galtung. They can be
summarised as justice, equality, prosperity, non-violence,
cooperation and solidarity. Following exchanges with
participants from the two conflicting communities, problems
were identified and animation solutions proposed out of which
three test-animations were created. These address the themes
of inter-communal relationships, language and a shared future .
Their impact was then discussed and evaluated by a local
audience who suggested amendments. This perpetual,
collaborative procedure of action is to be repeated until all
needs are met and problems resolved. Primarily my original
contribution to knowledge lies in researching a largely
neglected area of the arts and peace and in successfully
proving that animation can act for the purposes of peacebuilding.
The evidence of animation's potential as a peacebuilding
tool is threefold: firstly, my Action Research approach
leads to the identification of specific animation strategies for
any ethnic conflict case. Secondly, animation attributes are
enlisted that support this function of the medium. Finally,
affirmation was gathered from questionnaires
... Elise challenged the dominance of the powerful in the writing of history by looking at the underside (Boulding, 1976a(Boulding, , 1992, and combined her sense of the broad sweep of human history and recognition of the importance of a positive view of the future in the now-moment of the 200-year present (Boulding, 1988a:3-7). Elise's workshops on imagining a nonviolent world inspired thousands to renew their commitment to creating the potentials for a more peaceful world (Boulding, 1988b(Boulding, , 2002. Above all, Elise was a consummate networker. ...
... Elise initially developed futures imaging workshops in collaboration with Warren Zeigler (Boulding, 1988b;Ziegler, 1985). The workshops grew out of her desire to make sure that she not only understood the power of a future image in social change, but was able to link this insight to an experiential process within which individuals could learn how to imagine and realize their "imaginaries" in concrete terms (Boulding, 2001(Boulding, , 2002. ...
This article is a set of tributes about Elise Boulding, one of the great peace scholars and activists of the twentieth century, by four who knew her as a friend, and as mother (Russell), colleague (Kevin), biographer (Mary Lee), and mentor (Andrea). Elise Boulding, the 2000 recipient of the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM) Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, made significant contributions to understanding conflict and peace as a peace activist, peace scholar, futurist, feminist, and family sociologist. She also left a lasting legacy as a networker and builder of communities of scholars and activists. Each tribute offers a different perspective on the impact she had on the personal lives of each contributor and the significance of Elise Boulding's work.
... The final stage of the argument explores the ways in which a holistic re-orienting of decisions by groups of actors might work to bring about a more just and ecologically sustainable world system. Inspired by the workshops of Boulding (1988), the author indulges an imaginary leap into what such a system might look like. This is supported by intersecting discourse in process philosophy, deep ecology and macro history aimed at moving towards an ecological civilization. ...
... What kind of world system might the efforts of more holistic decision-makers work to create? What would a just and sustainable alternative look like? Figure 3.5 takes inspiration from Boulding's (1988) workshop on "Imaging a World Without Weapons", that considers positive images of the future to be like a magnet, attracting behaviour that toward the vision. In this model the author suspends thoughts on what should be considered 'realistic', and posits a system in which there would no longer be Centre and Periphery nations operating with unequal exchanges. ...
What is causing the global ecological crisis? Who has the power to solve it? This chapter explores the global ecological crisis as a form of structural violence. Galtung’s “Structural Theory of Imperialism” (1971) is integrated with Kahn’s “Tyranny of Small Decisions” (1966). The synthesis of theories sheds light on the multi-levelled and multi-directional influence of individuals, nations, institutions and culture. Countless “small decisions”, that appear separate and distant from their collective long-term global consequences, are posited to be a root cause of the crisis. Solving the crisis calls for a holistic re-orienting of decision-making by people across many sectors of society aimed at long-term global interests rather than short-term personal interests. Examples of these decisions are considered. The chapter closes by imagining what a just and sustainable world system operating within planetary boundaries might look like, and consider examples of the type of decision-making it might involve.
... Boulding's works demonstrate her leading contributions to both peace sfudies and futures studies. She recognized ezLrly the value of learning fi:om both of these emergent, interdisciplinary fields (Boulding 1981(Boulding , 1982(Boulding , 1983(Boulding , 1984(Boulding , 1988(Boulding , 1992a. At the same time, she was conscioul; of the fact that even in fields of academic study that pride themselves for their cross-disciplinary openness to new ideas and approaches, a signiflcant gap bertween the rhetoric and practice may exist. ...
... These examples illustrate much about her lifelong engagement with notions of active global citiienship, futures generation thinking and her willingness to share practical ideas for creative leaming environments. Particular value has been found in her futures workshops adapted from her collaborative rvork with wanen ziegler (Boulding 1984(Boulding , 1988(Boulding , 1989(Boulding , 1 990, 1991ai7-iegter 1989, 1991. ...
Our joint article focuses on Elise Boulding’s creative work and legacy as a feminist peace theorist, peace educator and futures educator. Boulding throughout her life was deeply concerned not only with critiquing the institution of war but of working for better, more peaceable worlds. She was very much a ‘practical futurist’. Various important themes and concepts in her futures-oriented peace education work are examined. The article concludes with reflections on her continuing inspiration.
... It has a family resemblance with Freirean pedagogy of the oppressed (Freire 2005), participatory action research (Kemmis et al. 2014), C. Wright Mills's critical sociology (Mills 2000a, b), Fromm's sociological and sociopsychological analysis (Fromm 1968(Fromm , 1994; see also Fuchs 2020), and other critical theorists of the Frankfurt School. It has been used in various academic fields such as adult education and training (Nielsen et al. 1996), peacebuilding (Boulding 1988(Boulding , 2000, computer science and system design (Kensing and Halskov Madsen 1991;Kensing 1987), future studies (Inayatullah 2013), and youth studies (Alminde and Warming 2020). ...
The pandemic affected more than 1.5 billion students and youth, and the most vulnerable learners were hit hardest, making digital inequality in educational settings impossible to overlook. Given this reality, we, all educators, came together to find ways to understand and address some of these inequalities. As a product of this collaboration, we propose a methodological toolkit: a theoretical kaleidoscope to examine and critique the constitutive elements and dimensions of digital inequalities. We argue that such a tool is helpful when a critical attitude to examine ‘the ideology of digitalism’, its concomitant inequalities, and the huge losses it entails for human flourishing seems urgent. In the paper, we describe different theoretical approaches that can be used for the kaleidoscope. We give relevant examples of each theory. We argue that the postdigital does not mean that the digital is over, rather that it has mutated into new power structures that are less evident but no less insidious as they continue to govern socio-technical infrastructures, geopolitics, and markets. In this sense, it is vital to find tools that allow us to shed light on such invisible and pervasive power structures and the consequences in the daily lives of so many.KeywordsTheoretical kaleidoscopeToolkitMethodologyDigital inequalitiesPostdigitalCollaborative writing
... It has a family resemblance with Freirean pedagogy of the oppressed (Freire 2005), participatory action research (Kemmis et al. 2014), C. Wright Mills's critical sociology (Mills 1959(Mills /2000), Fromm's sociological and sociopsychological analysis (Fromm 1968(Fromm , 1994; see also Fuchs 2020), and other critical theorists of the Frankfurt School. It has been used in various academic fields such as adult education and training (Nielsen et al. 1996), peacebuilding (Boulding 1988(Boulding , 2000, computer science and system design (Kensing and Halskov Madsen 1991;Kensing 1987), future studies (Inayatullah 2013), and youth studies (Alminde and Warming 2020). ...
After the Second World War, many social critics thought technology had taken over all forms of modern thought and activity. To these thinkers, the arms industry, the cold war, nuclear threat, atomic science, overpopulation, lonely crowds, computing, famine, and ecological catastrophe were signs of technological determinism. The critics were utterly worried about the state of democracy in a technological world. The postdigital era faces similar challenges and even more pressing problems with the progress and inventions in digitalization. German-born Robert Jungk and Norbert Müllert addressed these problems from the 1960s onwards and wanted to search for solutions to technological determinism. Their answer was to invent a future workshop method that allowed ordinary people to participate in imagining the future and solve small and large-scale social problems. This chapter describes the future workshop as a viable postdigital research method that allows scholars methodological experimentation and switches from what is to what is not yet, but what could be.KeywordsFuture workshopImaginationPostdigital researchRobert JungkSocial scienceQualitative methodsTechnological determinism
... Another interesting " tradition " is a strand of futures thinking that emphasizes the role of " images of the future " for the intentions and actions of man. Pioneering work by Polak (1973) inspired several others (e.g. Boulding(1988) and Ziegler (1991)) particularly based on the presumed potential of optimistic and utopian images ( " visions " ) of the future to inspire dedicated action. Today, there is a rich variety of futures study approaches, reflecting different aims and interests and the characteristics of different fields of application. ...
This article provides an overview of the field of futures studies from different typologies by asking three questions: first, why scenarios are created; second, how they are constructed; and third, what they consist of. Combining these typologies reveals a structured plethora of possibilities for engaging with futures scenarios.
... These were previously developed and are described in detail in Svenfelt et al. (2019) and summarized below. Backcasting, as opposed to forecasting, starts out from the future to understand or enable changes in the present (e.g., Boulding, 1995;Dreborg, 1996;Robinson, 2003). Backcasting often implies describing futures that are considered desirable or fulfilling a set target, as well as analyzing changes needed in the present (e.g., Svenfelt et al., 2011), or developing pathways toward those futures (e.g., Ashina et al., 2010). ...
This paper builds on four qualitative backcasting scenarios that illustrate sustainable futures in a Swedish setting. The paper complements the originally qualitative scenarios by developing an eight‐step modified and expanded IPAT model—originally describing environmental impact as a product of population, affluence, and technology—that also enables quantitative descriptions of the scenarios. The modified and expanded IPAT model is used to show how the scenarios can stay within the climate aspect of sustainability. The result is quantified descriptions of the development paths of energy‐related carbon dioxide emissions, working hours, man‐made capital stocks, recycled and nonrecycled materials used, and different types of energy used in the four scenarios. The four main findings are (a) the back‐bone instrument in making the energy system fossil‐free will, in all scenarios, substitute fossil energy with renewable energy; (b) however, to succeed with that it is necessary to use different mixes of many complementary climate policy instruments; (c) IPAT models can be modified and expanded in many different ways to act as quantitative descriptions of different technological developments and social changes in scenario exercises; (d) by disregarding gross domestic product as a proxy for affluence, and replacing it with labor and capital, behavioral concepts like sharing and prolonged product lifetimes can more easily be introduced as climate policy options in a modified and expanded IPAT model.
... Specifi cally, Wagner (1988) has argued that, in contrast to traditional military means, "positive goals for peace can often be seen as 'vague' or 'utopian' in vision and may seem to rely on plans that are 'ambiguous' and 'intangible' " (Mahoney & de Rivera, 2008, p. 62). Elsewhere, Boulding (1988) has argued that violent means are so engrained in our culture that we struggle even to envision peaceful alternatives. Sherif has shown us that those norms which are nearer to ours may be assimilated into our "ways of seeing. ...
... 'If there are no more weapons, how is the world functioning?' (Boulding, 1988(Boulding, , 1989. ...
Feminist scholars and activists have historically been written out of peace research, despite their strong presence in the early stages of the field. In this article, we develop the concept of “wifesization” to illustrate the process through which feminist and feminized interventions have been reduced to appendages of the field, their contributions appropriated for its development but unworthy of mention as independent producers of knowledge. Wifesization has trickle-down effects, not just for knowledge production, but also for peacebuilding practice. We propose new feminist genealogies for peace research that challenge and redefine the narrow boundaries of the field, in the form of a patchwork quilt including early theorists, utopian writing, oral history, and indigenous knowledge production. Reflections draw on the authors’ engagements with several archives rich in cultures and languages of peace, not reducible to a “single story.” Recovering wifesized feminist contributions to peace research, our article offers a new way of constructing peace research canons that gives weight to long-standing, powerful, and plural feminist voices, in order to make peace scholarship more inclusive and ultimately richer.
... En el nivel de docencia, es recomendable insertar en la malla curricular talleres de Cultura de Paz, destinados al mejoramiento de imágenes trinacionales Perú-Chile-Bolivia y a l desarrollo de habilidades para la resolución pacífica de conflictos. La metodología a utilizarse debería ser eminentemente práctica, utilizando recursos tales como el análisis de casos, la solución de problemas, el método de estimulación de la creatividad denominado los Seis sombreros para pensar, los proyectos de acción futura y las imágenes-objetivo para un futuro de paz, diseñadas por Elise Boulding (1988). ...
El Siglo XXI nos impone nuevos retos y desafíos, particularmente a las instituciones de educación superior, circunstancia ante la cual se advierte la necesidad de fortalecer los lazos de integración y emprendimientos conjuntos por parte de las universidades latinoamericanas, especialmente de aquellas que conviven sobre límites fronterizos, como es el caso de las universidades bolivianas y chilenas, las mismas que comparten una historia común, cultura y legítimas aspiraciones de contribuir eficazmente al desarrollo de sus países, fundamentalmente a través de la investigación científica y la formación académica. En ese contexto, el objetivo que compartimos es el de detectar aquellos factores psicosociales que contribuyen al establecimiento de una cultura de paz en la región; por esta razón, creemos que esta meta se adecúa precisamente a los desafíos antes mencionados. Cabe hacer notar que cuando hablamos de una cultura de paz, no nos referimos a una abstracción, menos a una entelequia, sino, por el contrario, a la necesidad de construir un sistema que sea capaz de extinguir los mecanismos que provocan y generan violencia; violencia que se ha tornado cotidiana y sistemática pese a la vigencia de regímenes de gobierno constitucionales.
... But this forecloses other interpretations of what is happening and, thus, limits the scope of the possible when we try to conceive of peace and peacebuilding. Seeing everything always through the perspective of politics serves to under-appreciate the social and social-psychological activities which have been central to much of the 'affective peacebuilding' described by Mitchell (2011), which has been foundational to conflict transformation approaches theorized and developed by scholars such as Allport (1954), Boulding (1988), Lederach (1997), Fisher (2001 or Kelman (2004), and largely outside the realm of IR. However, if we recognize that actions within the realm of 'the everyday' are neither political nor a-political, but pre-political, then we can be open to the possibility of alternative motivations for action on the micro or local scale. ...
Quite a lot of recent peacebuilding scholarship has deployed the concept of ‘the everyday’. In an extension of the local turn’s emphasis on agency and resistance, much of this scholarship interprets the everyday as inherently a site of politics. It does so either by interpreting every act (no matter how motivated) as an agentic political act, or by equating agentic political acts (at the local level) with the quotidian activities which define the everyday. This article argues, however, that representing the everyday in this way interprets both forms of activity in ways which have critical implications for peacebuilding theory, because both moves inadvertently strip everyday acts of the emergent creativity and innovation inherent to ‘everyday-ness’. Alternative understandings of and engagement with different forms of agency would encourage peace scholars to acknowledge the overtly political nature of peace projects and so to reserve ‘the everyday’ label for pre-political forms of action which may contribute to peace, but in a more unintentional, organic or emergent fashion. This is not to argue that everyday acts are a-political or non-political, but only that they do not have political motivations and are not themselves products of conscious will to power, or even to peace itself.
... En el nivel de docencia, es recomendable insertar en la malla curricular talleres de Cultura de Paz, destinados al mejoramiento de imágenes trinacionales Perú-Chile-Bolivia y a l desarrollo de habilidades para la resolución pacífica de conflictos. La metodología a utilizarse debería ser eminentemente práctica, utilizando recursos tales como el análisis de casos, la solución de problemas, el método de estimulación de la creatividad denominado los Seis sombreros para pensar, los proyectos de acción futura y las imágenes-objetivo para un futuro de paz, diseñadas por Elise Boulding (1988). ...
... Envisioning and illustrating sustainable and desired futures can be a powerful tool to nudge perceptions of what is possible or realistic, and to broaden the scope of solutions that are considered in the current agenda. Also, as Boulding (1995), for example, has argued, positive images can also create positive action. To explore sustainable futures beyond GDP growth, as we have done together with relevant stakeholder groups, has enabled a dialogue about what a sustainable economy is and should be. ...
The idea of continued economic growth is increasingly questioned and critically analysed on the basis of its potential negative sustainability impact. Along with the critique, visions and strategies for alternative systems need also be brought onto the agenda. The aim of this paper is to present the qualitative content of scenarios that explore sustainability strategies for the Swedish society when economic growth is not seen as an end in itself, and instead the objective is other values/targets that society might wish to achieve. Multi-target backcasting scenarios are developed that illustrate future states in which four sustainability targets (climate, land use, participation, and resource security) are to be attained. The focus of these four scenarios is: 1) a Collaborative economy, 2) Local self-sufficiency, 3) Automation for quality of life, and 4) Circular economy in the welfare state. In the paper, we also present the process of the development of the scenarios, and feedback from stakeholders. Although the focus is on Sweden, the process and scenarios may also be relevant for other similar countries. The scenarios are discussed in terms of their relevance and their purpose, the fulfilment of the sustainability targets, and the multi-target approach.
... 3-7). Elise's workshops on imagining a nonviolent world inspired thousands to renew their commitment to creating the potentials for a more peaceful world (Boulding, E., 1988b(Boulding, E., , 2002. Above all, Elise was a consummate networker. ...
This chapter explores the primary contributions of two eminent Quakers, economist Kenneth Boulding (1910-1993) and his wife sociologist Elise Boulding (1920-2010), to the social sciences and examines how their perspectives as Quakers influenced their work as social scientists and activists. Early life experiences led both to become pacifists before they joined the Society of Friends, each in their early twenties. After their marriage in 1941 they were active in the Society of Friends at all levels throughout their lives. Kenneth, after establishing a reputation as one of the foremost Keynesian economists in the world as a young man, went on to do pioneering work in the bourgeoning fields of general systems, peace and conflict resolution and human betterment, as well as helping establish new fields of study within economics: ecological economics, grants economics, evolutionary economics and economics as a moral science. Elise did pioneering work in the fields of peace research, peacemaking, feminism, future studies and the family, as well as leaving a remarkable legacy at the local, national and international level as an activist, community building and networker. Kenneth and Elise worked together always as partners, sometimes as collaborators, and at times clashed as adversaries. Modern usage of the “social testimonies” in the Society of Friends provides a lens through which their perspective as Quakers influenced their work as social scientists. Though both Kenneth and Elise became pacifists before becoming Quakers, the peace testimony provided grounding for their work in peace research, conflict resolution and peacemaking. Both are recognized as founders of the international peace research movement. Elise is recognized as a matriarch of the twentieth century peace movement. Elise’s feminism and work as a scholar in the area of social justice was grounded in the testimony of equality. Though fully supportive of the feminist movement and LGBT rights as articulated by Elise, Kenneth did not see eye-to-eye with her on a number of other social justice issues. The testimony of community is reflected in the way Elise and Kenneth built community wherever they went. Differing views related to the testimony of simplicity created the greatest tension between Elise and Kenneth in their personal lives, yet throughout their lives they were united by an unbreakable bond of love.
... In one study, participants' hesitations around international cooperation included concerns about whether most other Americans would show support, and the essentialist belief that human nature is inherently violent (Mahoney & de Rivera, 2008). Elsewhere, Boulding (1988) has suggested that an overreliance on military defense systems is further predicated on persons' inability to imagine alternatives. Thus, they "turn to short-term survival strategies rather than focusing on processes of long-range social change" (p. ...
It has been argued that the international cooperation needed to deal with global problems requires the development of a global community. We hypothesized that the sense of belonging to such a community would be promoted if we could increase a general sense of hopefulness about humanity and that such a sense of hopefulness would be influenced by the news to which persons are subjected. Participants were asked to visit news websites with different emotional tones. Those sent to a typical news site or to a fashion site showed a small but significant decrease in their sense of global community. Those sent to a nongovernmental organization (NGO) website featuring solutions-oriented news showed a significant increase. The latter site provoked greater admiration, appreciation, and hope, and less anger, disgust, and fear. Increase in a sense of global community was predicted by the extent to which the NGO site provoked both admiration and fear.
... These perceived discrepancies drain the motivational power that we might otherwise harness to drive change (Higgins et al., 1986). Movements also suffer when they do not have a common vision toward which to strive (Boulding, 1988). Gilbert (1988) has noted that one of the psychological factors inhibiting activism is a perceived "maze of objectives." ...
The alleviation of world suffering requires action on the part of individuals. Yet, for these persons, awareness of and attention to suffering combined with a felt sense of connection may function as both assets and liabilities. While these capacities enable the galvanization necessary to incite actions aimed at the relief of suffering, they may come at powerful costs, undermining the well-being of advocates and the efficacy of their labors. Personal and social resources have a part to play in how we manage our experience of emotions and our beliefs about social change. Privately, caregivers, advocates and activists might learn to deliberately recognize and direct their individual capacities for attention, awareness, and connection toward more effective responses. Socially, communities within the advocacy field play an equally imperative role in the emotional experience of its members. Communal norms that construct advocacy as necessarily onerous may fail to acknowledge the limitations of caregivers and advocates, while supportive communities that prioritize connection and celebration may alleviate helping stress. Sustainable social change will require an awareness of the ways in which individual beliefs and behaviors, institutional policies, and cultural norms may hamper the alleviation of suffering.
... In her presentation on -envisioning for a sustainable world‖ [19], Donella Meadows highlighted the absence of vision as a major source of failure in addressing environmental issues and there is no evidence to suggest that this absence has since been addressed [28]. Possibly drawing on the work of her Dartmouth colleague, Elise Boulding [29], she went on to describe the principles and benefits of envisioning a responsible shared vision. In doing so she inspired our current approach. ...
We face a global crisis of un-sustainability—we need to change trajectory, but have so far displayed a collective inability to do so. This article suggests that one reason for this is our entrenched approach to change, which has inappropriately applied mechanistic Newtonian assumptions to “living” systems. Applying what has been learned about the behaviour of complex adaptive systems, we develop a pragmatic model for students of sustainability, who want to facilitate profound organizational and community change towards sustainability on the ground. Our model, “one way forward”, does not purport to be the only way but one possibility, grounded in a different understanding of the nature and dynamic of change as seen through the lens of complexity. In this way, it challenges more conventional change management practices. One way forward is a model facilitating evolutionary change in a social ecology—one possible expression of a “culture of community self-design” as expressed by Banathy. Its theoretical foundations and its practical application (it is designed for practice) both have their source in a systemic view and in the principles that reflect the paradigm of complexity. Four central components of this new model—envisioning, core messages (values), indicators of progress, and experimentation—are explored in more detail.
... Students construct "future histories" to move thinking beyond mere extrapolation of current trends to consideration of unexpected events (Hutchinson, 1996, p. 225). Longer activities involve visualization workshops where students "visit" the future virtually (Boulding, 1988;Hicks, 1996) and multi-day field courses at a place that actually exists today, which opens students' minds to future alternatives viewed as improbable (e.g. eco-centers with solar energy, energy-efficient buildings, organic agriculture and constructed wetlands for sewage treatment; Hicks et al., 1999Hicks et al., /2000. ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a classroom assessment aimed at determining the extent to which five key sustainability competencies develop in students during an introductory transdisciplinary sustainability course. University sustainability programs intend to provide integrated education that fosters the key competencies students need to solve real-world sustainability problems. Translating sustainability competencies into effective pedagogical practice in integrated academic programs is not straightforward. This work builds on a previous study by both expanding the competencies evaluated and considering additional demographic characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper summarizes previously identified key sustainability competencies and describes teaching methodologies used to foster these competencies in students. Development of competencies in students during a semester-long course is assessed using a pre-/post-test based on two case studies. The implications of the findings for teaching practice and overall program structure are discussed.
Findings
– Based on the assessment methods used here, four of the five sustainability competencies evaluated in this study developed differently in students according to gender, disciplinary affiliation and age. Females improved interpersonal competence more than males. Systems thinking competence improved for students associated with the three disciplinary affiliations considered in this study: sustainability major, sustainability minor and business major. Anticipatory competence improved for sustainability and business majors only, but not for students minoring in sustainability and majoring in other disciplines. Finally, normative competence improved for younger students only.
Research limitations/implications
– Insights for teaching practice and overall program structure are based on assessment of one introductory transdisciplinary sustainability course. Much additional work is needed to draw strong conclusions about general teaching practices and program structure for sustainability education. This study provides a flexible and field-tested rubric for further evaluative work in other sustainability courses or degree programs.
Practical implications
– Universities incorporate sustainability into their undergraduate curricula in many ways, ranging from certificates to entire degree programs focused on sustainability. The results of this study suggest that educators pay attention to gender diversity, classroom teaching practices, disciplinary perspectives and student attitudes and developmental stages as they figure out how to make sustainability part of undergraduate education. This information may help create more effective sustainability courses and academic programs, which may maintain the viability of current sustainability programs and promote the institutionalization of sustainability in higher education.
Originality/value
– This research contributes to undergraduate sustainability education by providing insight into how sustainability education might thoughtfully be integrated into academic programs. It also offers an assessment approach for use by other sustainability educators to evaluate effectiveness of teaching practice and overall program structure based on five key sustainability competencies commonly cited in the literature.
... Studentsí ëfeared futuresí (Boulding, 1988) were related to political, environmental, social, economic and cultural unsustainability, particularly the lack of sustainable leadership, agency, environmental degradation, exclusion, the predominantly materialistic and consumer culture. ...
Education is a future-facing activity. Therefore, universities need to engage students in building alternative and preferable future scenarios and reveal features of unsustainability, as well as open spaces for students to participate in discussions and negotiate new meanings. This paper reveals the future visions bachelor’s and master’s degree students from one of the regional universities in eastern Latvia have of education and focuses on a sustainability analysis (sustainable and unsustainable) of societal aspects and education. The authors conclude that thinking about preferred futures make students more aware of the positive changes that could be made and their personal responsibility to contribute to these changes. In this connection, the need to take a broad, integrated and holistic view of the future and its social and personal significance is of utmost importance.
... Specifi cally, Wagner (1988) has argued that, in contrast to traditional military means, "positive goals for peace can often be seen as 'vague' or 'utopian' in vision and may seem to rely on plans that are 'ambiguous' and 'intangible' " (Mahoney & de Rivera, 2008, p. 62). Elsewhere, Boulding (1988) has argued that violent means are so engrained in our culture that we struggle even to envision peaceful alternatives. Sherif has shown us that those norms which are nearer to ours may be assimilated into our "ways of seeing. ...
Sherif’s empirical research on norm change within groups and across
time (Sherif, 1976) can be seen as part of a larger project of understanding
the psychological processes underlying the transformation of
norms within societies. While Sherif is not widely recognized for his
theoretical work outlining social change processes, his contributions
provided a foundation for much of the subsequent social psychological
literature on social movements, intergroup relations, and power
dynamics. Sherif gave considerable attention to social movements,
stating that social psychology was only relevant insofar as it helped us
to better understand, predict, and even facilitate change in large-scale
social problems (see Sherif, 1970).
With this background in mind, and in the chapter that follows, we
outline the psychological theory of social norms as set forth by Muzafer
Sherif. We then move to describe those situations under which
social norms may change. Finally, we attempt to apply Sherif’s model
of norm formation and change coupled with his ideas about social
movements, in particular, to historical movements aimed at creating
and maintaining norms which promote social justice.
... Third, while the alternative scenarios explore possible futuresand in themselves of scholarly value -the strength and power of the workshop was the articulation of desired visions of the future, their supporting drivers and the underlying narratives or deep metaphors. Visions, as Boulding [26] and Polak [27] have argued, pull us forward towards the future, even as there are weights -mindsets, institutional blockages, resource constraints -that challenge the realization of the preferred. The push of the future, drivers, make it more likely that certain visions will occur. ...
Using the Six Pillars foresight workshop process, forty-five Asian political, policy and activist leaders explored the futures of democratic governance. Organized and funded by Oxfam and the Rockefeller Foundation, the organizing hypothesis was that without a change in the nature of governance in Asia, poverty could not truly be uprooted. Changes in governance needed to be imagined and created from the ground up, not just imposed by the past or the elite. Five visions with accompanying causal layered analysis were developed by participants. Generally, these visions focused on more inclusion not just at the level of voting, but in terms of the participatory creation of alternative futures of culture, technology, economy and polity.
... As futurists, and peace educator Elise Boulding, have repeatedly argued [54], it is the lack of imagination about what alternative peace-oriented futures would actually look like that perpetuates conventional thinking about the (individual and collective) futures. By using stories to discuss often controversial, emotionally laden and difficult topics in post-conflict societies, the partnership education approaches used in the project succeeded in opening up new spaces for transformative futures in a non-threatening way. ...
This article focuses on the project Storytelling for Peace, Gender Partnership and Cultural Pluralism, initiated in 2009 in Novi Sad, Serbia, with the primary aim of promoting educational strategies which challenge the continuation of the dominator society's status quo and facilitate the emergence of alternative, progressive and socially inclusive futures. Constructive storytelling was chosen as an educational practice that can bring about change, and was used as a tool for the transfer of alternative worldviews because it is indirect, flexible and inexpensive. The main beneficiaries of the project were the students of the University of Novi Sad and teachers and children of Novi Sad primary schools. The project utilised local knowledge and languages to foster peace and partnership-oriented individual and social narratives through the process of alternative story writing and revision of traditional Serbian and European tales. The participants learned to deconstruct master narratives, to understand deep culture and how its underlying myths shape national identity. Alternative stories became a tool to teach critical thinking and promote a diversity of voices.
... approach seeks to facilitate empowerment and transformation through engagement and participation. It was initially developed by French and later Swedish futurists and has been emphasized in Australia (Berger, 1964;Bjerstedt, 1982;Boulding, 1988;Hutchinson, 1992;Wildman & Inayatullah, 1996). This could be referred to as 'prospective' or 'participatory futures,' depending on context. ...
In this paper I articulate a new meta-level field of studies that I call global knowledge futures—a field through which other emerging transdisciplinary fields can be integrated to cohere knowledge at a higher level. I contrast this with the current dominant knowledge paradigm of the global knowledge economy with its fragmentation, commodification and instrumentalism based on neoliberal knowledge capitalism. I take a big-picture, macrohistorical lens to the new thinking and new knowledge patterns that are emerging within the evolution of consciousness discourse. I explore three discourses: postformal studies, integral studies and planetary studies 3 —using a fourth discourse, futures studies, to provide a macro-temporal framing. By extending the meta-fields of postformal, integral and planetary studies into a prospective future dimension, I locate areas of development where these leading-edge discourses can be brought into closer dialogue with each other. In this meeting point of four boundary-spanning discourses I identify the new meta-level field of global knowledge futures, grounded in human thinking capacities, such as creativity, imagination, dialogue and collaboration.
... Many acknowledged experiencing stress and uncertainty but felt this was to be expected, as their futures were unclear and choice brings with it both excitement and stress. Futures research is plentiful in this regard, Hicks (2002, Chapter 6) and Boulding (1994) have both argued that there are a common set of values and visions young people are carrying, albeit unclearly, into the future. Hutchinson (1996) and Gidley (2002, pp.155-69) concur and have found that gender, education and economic factors impact on the young's ability to contemplate the future and their part in it. ...
The State of Queensland, Department of Families, April 2003. Copyright protects this publication. Permission is given for the copying of this document for use in the Queensland Government and as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968. Other reproduction by whatever means is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Department of Families. The Department of Families respects the moral rights of authors and in particular will act to protect the integrity of authorship and the right of attribution of authorship in all circumstances except where permitted acts or omissions have been specifically assigned by the author to the Department of Families in writing.
... The development of society towards sustainability is influenced by many actors' actions and perceptions. If intention plays an important role on human behaviour (Dreborg 1996), a shared intention is essential in organizations (Senge 1990, Collins 1994) or a society (Boulding 1988). For both organizations and society, the importance is not entirely on setting the goal, but also in the social learning process that allows the goal to be perceived as collective and instigate cohesion in acting (van der Heijden 2005). ...
Human society is currently designed based on linear patterns, without concern for and interactions with the biosphere. The natural world works in cycles, and in order to interact with these systems in a sustainable way, the redesign of human society according to the paradigm of cyclical thinking is required. This paper explores the synthesis and synergies between the cradle-to-cradle concept and a Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development in the context of sustainable development. The research tests whether Backcasting using Sustainability Principles is supportive to the implementation of the cradle-to-cradle concept and draws on relevant literature as well as interviews with experts. Based upon this research a process tool is designed and tested within a case study. Results indicate that, when backcasting using sustainability principles, principles for design and principles for decision-making provide synergistic characteristics in the process of implementation. Inspiring design principles, such as the ones suggested by the cradle-to-cradle concept, provide powerful engagement for a social learning process that works towards sustainable development. A structured decision-making process based on backcasting using sustainability principles provides the constraints and criteria for robust decision-making along the journey.
Purpose
This study aims to assess the level of sustainability competencies among full-time students and professional students, foresee any noteworthy change in students’ competencies after applying teaching pedagogy and determine whether lecturing is an effective teaching pedagogy for developing all five sustainability competencies in both cohorts.
Design/methodology/approach
The presence and development of competencies after varying pedagogical practices are assessed using a pre-/post-test based on two case studies. This research approach of comparative case study is more advanced and is particularly useful when seeking to understand differences and similarities between distinct entities, which in our case were students of two different capacities. The study targets two cohorts: the first includes 15 professional students with considerable industry experience, while the second consists of 24 full-time students without industry exposure.
Findings
The study revealed that professional students have more sustainability competencies than full-time students. Also, lecturing is an effective pedagogical practice when all five sustainable competencies have to be enhanced in full-time students. In contrast, lecturing does not work for interpersonal competence in professional students.
Research limitations/implications
There are certain limitations of the study that future researchers undermine. Firstly, the study was conducted only on business students at Bahria University. Secondly, the sample size for the study is small as the data were qualitative, and the researchers had time constraints. Thirdly, the effectiveness of only one teaching pedagogy has been gauged in the current research.
Practical implications
It is recommended that higher educational institutions (HEIs) of Pakistan introduce sustainability courses or programs to its students to spread awareness among learners and develop sustainable competencies. All service and production industries in Pakistan should train their employees in sustainable practices so that hazardous impacts in the future can be reduced. It is a need of time for the country to move a step ahead towards sustainable development goals.
Originality/value
This research contributes to education for sustainable development (ESD) in Pakistan. Pakistan is a developing country that is far behind ESD. Therefore, this study identifies how sustainability education can become a part of the academic system. It also identifies the need for sustainable education not only for students but also for professionals. It also identifies teaching pedagogy required for developing sustainability competencies and is relevant to learners’ exposure.
Humanity appears to be confronting an increasing number of health, economic, political, environmental, and social crises, which have been mainly brought about by human action itself. Whilst design has been complicit in such action, the paradigmatic strength of Design Thinking has amplified the agency of designers, who now have the opportunity to reorient toward a way of designing which harnesses cultural difference to confront these crises. Drawing on Lefebvre’s ideas of “difference,” Escobar’s “autonomous design,” and through a process of cultural reflexivity, I propose an approach to design – differential design – as a practical endeavor which sensitively and respectfully draws upon different cultural perspectives and traditions to design for the future. I share empirical examples of three methods: “worldviews,” “generative scribing,” and the application of “rhetoric.” Modestly and pragmatically, these may be used to shift the ontological perspectives of designers in the social and political project of designing equitable and empathic futures.
This article concentrates on the presentation of conflict related
issues of the Cypriot society, through opinions of
members of the two communities, gathered from
questionnaires. Broader research deals with the use of
animation as a tool for peace-building on the divided
island. This portion serves to identify problems and
provide solutions using animation in a local context.
Following an introduction into the conflict in Cyprus, the
article will explain the methodology, execution, and results
of these questionnaires, providing readers with insight into
Cypriot society.
In this tribute to the 2016 recipient of the International Association for Conflict Management Jeffrey Z. Rubin Theory-to-Practice Award, we celebrate the work of Benjamin Broome. Each of us highlights a unique contribution of his work: specifically, in the areas of (a) applied communication, (b) intercultural communication, (c) conflict management and peacebuilding, and (d) well-being, sustainability, and systems science education. We conclude our discussion of the four research areas by highlighting common themes suggested by this work. The article closes with words of wisdom from Benjamin Broome, who offers advice to doctoral students and scholars at various stages of their career.
This chapter is currently under review prior to publication. Comments are welcome
Peace education has been the stepchild of both the peace research and the peace action communities in the post-Word II era. Not seen as intellectually respectable enough for the researchers, not action-oriented enough for the activists, it has been regarded as the domain of do-gooder teachers and tactically unskilled community volunteers. As for impacting foreign policy, it is thought of as the least effective instrument in the peace field. Taking another point of view entirely, I will argue that peace education is the critical interface between research and action, and a major vehicle for the underlying culture change necessary for peace development in war-dominated societies.
I expect that this chapter will be the most challenging for readers with limited prior knowledge of adult developmental psychology. It has certainly been the most challenging to write—largely because there is so much material on higher stages of reasoning, yet so little coherence of it to date. In this chapter we explore a range of adult development theories created by psychologists who saw beyond the limits of Piaget’s cognitive model. I introduce the main researchers who have identified and described postformal reasoning qualities and reiterate the shift from formal to postformal reasoning. The postformal reasoning features they identify are listed, and from these I theorise and discuss twelve distinct postformal reasoning qualities. By the end you will have a coherent picture of how postformal reasoning is conceptually aligned with four themes distilled from the evolution of consciousness research.
We live in a world with a globalising culture that does not value life in its many dimensions: the environment, the health and vitality of its children and young people, or the wellbeing of socio-cultural life in general. This chapter begins by reiterating the important evolutionary theme that would shift our thinking from static mechanistic metaphors to life-enhancing ones. I refresh the reader on the postformal qualities and pedagogies that support this shift before discussing the philosophical underpinnings of a life-promoting education. An introduction to the most life-supporting educational approaches today is followed by examples from my teaching experience and that of other alive and vital educators. I finish with some personal reflections on the importance of pedagogical life.
Establishing Peace and Conflict Studies Programs in Iraqi Universities:
Necessary Conditions and Short-Term Implications
Peace and Conflict Studies was unknown as a field of academic inquiry in Iraq when the 21st century began. Just over a decade later, formal institutional entities had been established to explore the subject at three Iraqi universities. Using a participatory action research methodology, this dissertation explores two questions: 1. What are the conditions that promote or impede establishment of a university-based program in peace and conflict studies in Iraq?, and; 2. Once established, what are possible outputs and outcomes of these programs over the first few years of their existence? This study consisted of 67 interviews, three focus groups and hundreds of hours of my first-hand observations. I argue that the presence or absence of three conditions has determined the success of efforts to establish peace and conflict studies programs at Iraqi universities: an inviting political climate; entrepreneurial or charismatic university leadership; and the availability of financial, intellectual and relational resources. I conclude that even in the first few years after a program's establishment, it is possible to observe not only tangible outputs such as students graduated, public events conducted and papers published, but also intangible outcomes such as increased awareness and understanding by students and other program affiliates of critical concepts related to peace and conflict and the creation of a platform for future learning and practice in peace and conflict studies.
Was wird die Zukunft bringen? Kaum eine Frage ist spannender, aber auch unbefriedigender zu beantworten. Wissen über die Zukunft wäre das nützlichste überhaupt. Man könnte sich auf das, was kommen wird, vorbereiten und ungünstigen Entwicklungen im Sinne eines Frühwarnsystems entgegentreten. Doch da die Zukunft ontologisch noch nicht existiert, ist auch jede sichere Erkenntnis über sie kategorisch unmöglich. In Zentrum eines jeden zukunftsgerichteten Erkenntnisinteresses steht daher nicht das Vorherwissen (engl.: foreknowledge/precognition, franz.: prévision), sondern die auf alternative Möglichkeiten orientierte, explorative Vorausschau (engl.: foresight, franz.: prévoyance).
This article explores the breadth of the futures studies field by creating a dialogue with some
prominent approaches to climate change. The first half of the article takes an evolutionary
perspective on the development of the futures studies field. I show how developments in the
field parallel the broader epistemological shift from the centrality of positivism to a plurality
of postpositivist approaches particularly in the social sciences. Second, I explore the current
scientific research on climate change including issues related to mitigation, adaptation, and
coevolution. Finally, I apply my futures typology that includes five paradigmatic approaches to
undertake a dialogue between futures studies and climate change.
This paper is concerned with approaches to the design and production of a software package to demonstrate the feasibility of enhancing comprehension, and navigating complexity, using features uniquely dependent upon the The concern here is with the design of a software package to demonstrate how the power of both "scientific" and"artistic" approaches may be integrated to enhance comprehension and navigation of complexity-as well as offering new forms of creativity in response to complex policy conditions, riches and subtleties of artistic insight.
This paper examines the higher education open entry policy in light of the current marketization and over-qualification phenomena. The purpose of the study is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interrelated topics of access, meritocracy and selection, graduate skills mismatch and consumerism in universities. Indeed, the socio-economic changes affecting higher education have highlighted some weaknesses in the open entry system, which leads to hypothesising that instead of constituting an egalitarian system this could lead to limiting opportunities. The study aims to show that open entry policies may encourage consumerism and credential inflation, and negatively affect the quality of the teaching-learning environment; the ensuing wasteful competition in the labour market may generate professional and social exclusion instead of guaranteeing more and greater opportunities. A further aim of the study is to provide an agenda to guide both future research to enlighten and explain these phenomena and policy-making in higher education, with a specific focus on the Italian system. The article uses theories applied in socio-educational research to discuss opportunities to adjust open entry policies in Italian public universities.
Um die Zukunftsorientierung der Betriebswirtschaftslehre und insbesondere ihren konzeptionell und methodisch anspruchsvollen
Umgang mit „Zukunft“ zu fördern, liegt es auf der Hand, diejenige Disziplin näher in den Blick zu nehmen, die sich wie keine
andere „Zukunft“ zum Thema gemacht hat. Das Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, vor diesem Hintergrund ein kurzes Portrait
der Zukunftsforschung zu zeichnen.
This paper explores the idea of what it means to be "ahead of the times." In doing so the paper looks at new generations of ideas; new generations of individualism; and new generations of organisational structures and cultures. Weak signals can already be identified from a century ago indicating new ways of thinking within several disciplines such as science, philosophy, psychology and education. These signs of what many regard as evolutionary change in human thinking run parallel with many of the exponential changes manifesting in the external world. The paper argues for a shift beyond egotistic individualism to collective individualism, laying foundations for major organisational transformation to meet the needs of uncertain futures. The paper suggests that futures studies as a field needs to be sensitive to the developmental and paradigmatic changes that have been occurring both within and across the knowledge spectrum. Finally, the World Futures Studies Federation is examined as a case study to determine whether it is, indeed, ahead of its times.
Two studies investigated the relationship between emotions and political proposals affecting national security. Study One examined the extent to which proposals, ostensibly undertaken to produce security, may actually increase anxiety. Participants (N=131) were exposed to proposals for either missile defense or a Department of Peace, which either included or excluded information concerning the proposal's author. Neither proposal affected general anxiety level, but participants exposed to the proposal for missile defense reported feeling less secure that the nation could be protected from attack. Belief in efficacy was relatively low, significantly lower than the modest belief in efficacy reported by those exposed to the proposal for a Department of Peace. Ratings of effectiveness were not significantly biased by author affiliation. Study Two examined the impact of induced affective state on judgments of program efficacy. University students (N = 36) were emotionally primed with comforting or threatening stimuli intended to affect feelings of anxiety. They were then exposed to either a proposal for missile defense or a proposal for a Department of Peace and asked to rate the proposal's effectiveness. Priming efforts were successful in manipulating feelings of anxiety, but perceived efficacy was not affected. However, level of anxiety was positively correlated with the judged efficacy of missile defense and negatively correlated with the efficacy of a Department of Peace. Participants rated a Department of Peace as more effective than a missile defense program. Their comments suggest ways for engendering public support for the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace.
Although imaginal dialogue—dialogues with imaginary others—suffuse fantasy, dreams, the play of children, and the private speech and thought of adults, there has until now been no attempt to group together the various instances of such dialogues and to examine their phenomenology and treatment significance.
After critically reviewing the reductive strategies that developmental psychologists and psychoanalysts have traditionally employed in dealing with these phenomena, Watkins outlines a novel theory of imaginal dialogues as growth-promoting and creative. She is not content merely to document the enduring presence of imaginary others throughout the life cycle; instead, she assigns imaginal dialogues a "conceptual space" where, in her words, "their development is not reduced to a change from the presence in childhood to their absence in adulthood." In demarcating this space, she enriches her depth-psychological argument with insights culled from anthropology, religion, mythology, and literature.
In the final section of "Invisible Guests," Watkins turns to the treatment implications of her developmental approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A model explaining how the motive to achieve and the motive to avoid failure influences behavior assumes strength of motivation as being a multiplicative function of motive, expectancy, and incentive. This accounts for level of aspiration and also performance level when only one task is presented. "It also assumes that the incentive value of success is a positive linear function of difficulty as inferred from the subjective probability of success; and negative incentive value of failure to be a negative linear function of difficulty." 2 theoretical implications are "that performance level should be greatest when there is greatest uncertainty about outcome" and people with strong motive to achieve should prefer immediate risk whereas those with strong motive to avoid failure will prefer easy tasks or extremely difficult and risky tasks. Experimental results are cited with implications for research on gambling and social mobility aspirations. 22 references.
An exploratory study was conducted to examine the contents of ordinary citizens' conceptions of nuclear war and the possible consequences of those mental conceptions or images for political activity. Previous data suggested the feasibility of measuring cognitive images and their emotional concomitants in surveys of the general public. Existing survey research also suggested that cognitive images of nuclear war and their affective concomitants might precipitate political action. Existing laboratory data suggested specifically that the images' concreteness and their availability to memory might precipitate action. The content of nuclear war images was mainly abstract and secondarily concrete. Both abstract and concrete content included primarily physical destruction, as well as death, disease, and injury. References in a 1954 survey to the quality of life after an attack have been replaced in the current survey with comments about sheer survival. Antinuclear activity indeed was significantly related to the concreteness of people's nuclear war images, beyond the effects of antinuclear attitudes and general levels of political activity. The emotionality and availability of images did not predict antinuclear activity. Both image contents and their behavioral consequences cut across demographic lines, such as sex, race, social class, and political ideology; only age and education bore modest relation to images and action. Images of nuclear war appear to be highly consensual. When they are especially concrete, they can motivate antinuclear activity.
This book contains eight sections, each consisting of several papers. Some of the paper titles are: On Numbing and Feeling; The Mirror Image in Soviet-American Relations; Empathizing with the Soviet Government; Decision Making in Crises; The Nature and Control of Escalation; Cognitive Perspectives on Foreign Policy; and Deterrence, the Spiral Model and Intentions of the Adversary.
Presents a new edition of the 1953 study establishing the validity of the TAT measure of need for achievement (nAch). Basic problems in the measurement of fantasy and the development of appropriate content analysis procedures, the nature of the achievement imagery index score, and the general development of nAch are examined. A new preface with "hindsight" is also included. (8 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this extraordinarily original and profound work, Noam Chomsky discusses themes in the study of language and mind since the end of the sixteenth century in order to explain the motivations and methods that underlie his work in linguistics, the science of mind, and even politics. This edition includes a new and specially written introduction by James Mc Gilvray, contextualising the work for the twenty-first century. It has been made more accessible to a larger audience; all the French and German in the original edition has been translated, and the notes and bibliography have been brought up to date. The relationship between the original edition (published in 1966) and contemporary biolinguistic work is also explained. This challenging volume is an important contribution to the study of language and mind, and to the history of these studies since the end of the sixteenth century.
Boulding discusses the image as the key to understanding society and human behavior
Visuality among other senses and the eidetic process
- Ahsen A.
Deep structures and sociological analysis: Some reflections
- Boulding E.
- McClelland