Samimian-Darash Limor, Sheniak Amit, Rotem Nir
Federmann School of Public Policy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
The Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Soc Stud Sci. 2024 Dec 11:3063127241300625. doi: 10.1177/03063127241300625.
When the future is connected to the term 'imagination', it is generally presented through the concept of the 'imaginary'-that is, an image of the future that is related to a grand social image. In this article, we discuss the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries and argue that although this concept provides a needed perspective that allows scholars to unpack imaginaries associated with technological futures, it often features very broad concepts, hindering investigation of the ongoing dynamics of the actual acts of imagining and imagination. In contrast, we are interested in examining the processes and practices of imagination of socio-technical futures. Attempting to extend and deepen the development of this prevalent approach in STS, we make three incremental claims. First, future imaginaries should be addressed as a product of a process of imagination, not just in their final stable states. Second, exploring the process of future imagination reveals the effect of different temporalities-patterns of future imagination that expand the common singular far-future imaginary. Third, using a temporality-based analysis, we can identify different future planning techniques and practices in terms of their levels of formality and institutionalization.
当未来与“想象”一词联系在一起时，它通常是通过“想象之物”的概念呈现出来的，也就是说，一种与宏大社会形象相关的未来形象。在本文中，我们讨论社会技术想象之物的概念，并认为尽管这个概念提供了一个必要的视角，使学者们能够剖析与技术未来相关的想象之物，但它往往包含非常宽泛的概念，阻碍了对想象和想象力实际行为的动态过程的研究。相比之下，我们感兴趣的是研究社会技术未来的想象过程和实践。为了尝试扩展和深化科学技术研究（STS）中这种普遍方法的发展，我们提出三点递进的主张。第一，未来想象之物应被视为想象过程的产物，而不仅仅是其最终的稳定状态。第二，探索未来想象的过程揭示了不同时间性的影响——未来想象的模式扩展了常见的单一遥远未来想象。第三，使用基于时间性的分析，我们可以根据不同的未来规划技术和实践的形式化程度和制度化水平来识别它们。
