Making Sense of the Future integrates the latest thinking in Future Studies with the author’s expertise in world history, economics, interdisciplinary studies, knowledge organization, and political activism. The book takes a systems approach that recognizes the complexity of our world. It begins by suggesting a set of goals for human societies and identifying innovative strategies for achieving these goals that could gain broad support. Each chapter begins with a “How to” section that discusses how we can identify goals, strategies, trends, surprises, or implementation strategies and concludes with an integrative analysis that draws connections across the preceding discussions. Taking a cross-disciplinary approach, Szostak explores key trends and how these interact so that he can develop strategies to guide trends towards desirable futures. He discusses the ways in which we can best prepare for surprises such as epidemics and natural disasters, enabling us to react to them in beneficial ways. Supported by a list of guiding questions and suggestions for class projects, this is an accessible textbook for students of Future Studies and Future Studies courses.
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Author(s): Rick Szostak
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge | Taylor & Francis Group
Year: 2022
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 207
Tags: General & World History; Historiography; Social Forecasting; Future Studies
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Epigraph
Table of Contents
Figures
Boxes
Acknowledgements
1 | Introduction
1.1 | Outline of the Book
1.2 | Important Characteristics of this Book
1.3 | A Brief Survey of Future Studies
1.4 | Why do this?
2 | Setting Societal Goals
2.1 | How to Set Goals
2.2 | Particular Goals
2.3 | Desirable Futures
3 | Plotting Strategies to Achieve Societal Goals
3.1 | How to Plot Strategies
3.2 | Strategies for Achieving Particular Goals
3.3 | Interactions Among Strategies
4 | Predicting Plausible Futures
4.1 | How to Identify Plausible Futures
4.2 | Particular Trends
4.3 | Plausible Futures
5 | Coping With Surprises
5.1 | How to Identify Surprises
5.2 | Particular Surprises
5.3 | Interactions Among Surprises
6 | Achieving Desirable Futures
6.1 | Guidelines for Advocacy
6.2 | Gaining Public Support for Strategies
6.3 | Taking a Staged Approach
6.4 | Networking
6.5 | Leadership
6.6 | Strategic Planning
6.7 | Engage in and Encourage Scenario Planning
6.8 | Dealing With Entrenched Interests
6.9 | Act Locally
6.10 | Be Prepared for Failure
6.11 | Believe in Progress
6.12 | Research that Is Needed
6.13 | Integrating Strategies for Advocacy
7 | Concluding Remarks
Bibliographic Reflections
Index
