Shaping Tomorrow's World : A Twentieth Century History of West German, Cold War, and Global Futures Studies / Elke Seefried.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Seefried, Elke, Author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (732 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York ; Oxford : Berghahn Books, [2024]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Shaping Tomorrow’s World tells the crucial story of how futures studies developed in West Germany, Europe, the US and within global futures networks from the 1940s to the 1980s. It charts the emergence of different approaches and thought styles within the field ranging from Cold War defense intellectuals such as Herman Kahn to critical peace activists like Robert Jungk. Engaging with the challenges of the looming nuclear war, the changing phases of the Cold War, ‘1968’, and the growing importance of both the Global South and environmentalism, this book argues that futures scholars actively contributed to these processes of change. This multiple award-winning study combines national and transnational perspectives to present a unique history of envisioning, forecasting, and shaping the future.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1 Roots in the Early Twentieth Century

Chapter 2 Cold War Science

Chapter 3 Conceptualizing Futures Studies Key Figures and Thought Styles

Chapter 4 Constructing Futurology? The Emerging Futures Field and the Public Sphere

Chapter 5 Conflicting Futures Setting Up West German Futures Studies Organizations

Chapter 7 Controlling the World’s Future The Early History of the Club of Rome

Chapter 8. The Environmental Turn in Futures Studies: The Debate about The Limits to Growth, 1972–73

Chapter 9 Glocalization and a Subjective Turn Futures Studies in the 1970s

Chapter 10 Global Solidarity versus Economic Competitiveness The Futures Field from the 1970s Onward

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2024)

ISBN:

9781805395171

1805395173