The Evolution of Future Imaginaries

Future imaginaries are considered as collective and often unconscious and unreflected expectations about the future. They are deeply woven into social structures and thereby guide the actions of large groups of people or a whole society towards a certain direction. These actions, in combination with emerging external influences, shape the realization and evolution of future imaginaries. This phenomenon can be observed through the example of future mobility imaginaries, where from cars the future imaginary of electric cars and from that the future imaginary of self-driving electric cars emerged. The effects of these future mobility imaginaries were visible in actions such as the advertisement for new job offers or funding programs. Self-driving mobility futures seemed to be set, they dominated mainstream discourse, but emerging external influences such as technological and economic challenges interrupted this imaginary evolution. The future mobility imaginary of self-driving cars transitioned into a phase of crisis. Such erosion of future imaginaries, which are also visible in many areas beyond mobility, open up windows of opportunity for changing imaginary patterns and enable the possibility to make new imaginations more dominant. In mobility and beyond, the emergence of new future imaginaries is sometimes very difficult and sometimes easier to shape. As actors embedded in social structures we need to see these windows of opportunity. We need to consciously attempt to contribute by deconstructing existing as well as proposing and enabling the negotiation of new future imaginaries.

Feb 20, 2025