Future Courses of Human Societies

Critical Reflections from the Natural and Social Sciences
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-367-47360-0
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 220 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 345 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society

The future as a field of inquiry, debate or forecasts continues to flourish. However, this book differs from existing literature in several important ways. It is not another publication on future scenarios guided by a linear technological fix - nor is it simply a volume of new statistics on economic, demographic or geopolitical developments. Rather, Future Courses of Human Societies explores and builds a general framework for the long-term evolution of human societies.

Drawing upon a wide range of insights from across the social and natural sciences, the authors of this title present original, exploratory methodological and analytical approaches to examining the future. Encouraging the reader to deepen their knowledge and encourage critical thinking, three themes are considered in their complexity and multi-dimensionality: technological innovations; future ‘progress’; and the critical aspect of organizing collective life in the future. Furthermore, in contrast to previous studies which have embraced a relatively short time-span, this text incorporates perspectives from the immediate to the distant future, extending to several centuries and even millennia.

An interdisciplinary and internationally comprehensive volume, Future Courses of Human Societies is a key source for students and researchers interested in fields such as future studies, technology in society, interdisciplinary learnings on social and natural sciences and future economic and political evolutions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ghimire, Kléber

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

PART ONE: METHODOLOGICAL AND ANALYTICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION
Chapter 1: Future as an Object of Inquiry: An Introduction
Kléber Ghimire

PART TWO: CONTRADICTORY ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Chapter 2: Physics, Science and Technology in the Future
Junichiro Fukai
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Future Societies with Unlimited Energy Supply?
Claudio Capiglia
Chapter 4: Nanotechnology and Future Technological Evolutions
Ruggero Micheletto

PART THREE: MEANING AND OBJECT OF PROGRESS IN THE FUTURE
Chapter 5: 3D printing: A New Industrial Revolution?
Juan Pablo Ripamonti
Chapter 6: Technology, Work and Social Conflictuality
Marc Troisvallets
Chapter 7: Economic Progress and Civilizational Changes in the Far-off Future
Kléber Ghimire

PART FOUR: ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTIVE LIFE IN THE FUTURE
Chapter 8: On Democracy and Technology in the Long Term
Mathew Filner
Chapter 9: Ethics and Laws of the Future
Vesselin Popovski

Contributors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kléber Ghimire is Professor at the International College of Arts, Yokohama City University, Japan