In Uncertainty by Design Limor Samimian-Darash presents cases of the use of scenario technology in the fields of security and emergency preparedness, energy, and health by analyzing scenario narratives and practices at the National Emergency Management Authority in Israel, the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe, and the World Energy Council. Humankind has long struggled with the uncertainty of the future, with how to foresee the future, imagine alternatives, or prepare for and guard against undesirable eventualities. Scenario-or scenario planning-emerged in recent decades to become a widespread means through which states, large corporations, and local organizations imagine and prepare for the future. The scenario technology cases examined in Uncertainty by Design provide a useful lens through which to view contemporary efforts to engage in an overall journey of discovering the future, along with the modality of governing involved in these endeavors to face future uncertainties. Collectively, they enable us to understand in depth how scenarios express a new governing modality.

Inhabitable Infrastructures: Science fiction or urban future?, the follow up to Food City and Smartcities and Eco-Warriors, from one of the world's leading urban design and architectural thinkers, explores the potential of climate change-related multi-use infrastructures that address the fundamental human requirements to protect, to provide and to participate. The stimulus for the infrastructures derives from postulated scenarios and processes gleaned from science fiction and futurology as well as the current body of scientific knowledge regarding changing environmental impacts on cities. Science fiction is interdisciplinary by nature, aggregates the past and present, and evaluates both lay opinions and professional strategies in an attempt to develop foresight and to map possible futures. The research culminates in the creation of innovative multi-use infrastructures and integrated self-sustaining support systems that meet the challenges posed through climate change and overpopulation, and the reciprocal benefits of simultaneously addressing the threat and the shaping of cities. J. G. Ballard has written that the psychological realm of science fiction is most valuable in its predictive function, and in projecting emotions into the future. The knowledge from the book is widely transferable, constituting both solutions and speculative visions of future urban environments. The book is indispensable reading for professionals and students in the fields of urban design, architecture, engineering and environmental socio-politics.

'I could not recommend this more. If you're looking for a sense of optimism, a sense of political possibility, this book is very important' Owen Jones What would a fair and equal society actually look like? Imagine a world with no banks. No stock market. No tech giants. No billionaires. In Another Now world-famous economist, Yanis Varoufakis, shows us what such a world would look like. Far from being a fantasy, he describes how it could have come about - and might yet. But would we really want it? Varoufakis's boundary-breaking new book confounds expectations of what the good society would look like and confronts us with the greatest question: are we able to build a better society, despite our flaws. 'A vision of a new society with new ways of thinking is possibly the most important thing an artist can offer at the moment' Brian Eno

Modern science, the Internet, big data, and AI are each saying the same thing to us: the world is--and always has been--far more complex and unpredictable than we've allowed ourselves to see. As a result we're undergoing a sea change in our understanding of how things happen, and in our deepest strategies for predicting, preparing for, and managing our lives and our businesses.

For example, machine learning allows us to make better predictions (think the weather, stock performance, online clicks) but we know less about why those predictions are right--and we need to get used to that. And in fact, over the past twenty years we've been unintentionally developing strategies that avoid anticipating what will happen so we don't have to depend on unreliable revenue forecasts, assumptions about customer needs, and hypotheses about how a product will be used. By embracing these strategies, we're flourishing by creating yet more possibilities and yet more unpredictability.

In wide-ranging stories and characteristically all-encompassing syntheses, technology researcher, internet expert, and philosopher David Weinberger reveals the trends that hide in so many aspects of our lives--and shows us how they matter.

In a decidedly anti-intellectual moment, exemplified by such recent phenomena as denials of science, defunding of universities, and distrust of "facts," Intra-Public Intellectualism examines the relationships among qualitative inquiry, truth telling and social activism. With contributions from scholars and activists around the world, the book addresses three key tensions in the field of social inquiry. The first tension concerns the proliferation of digital environments and virtual spaces, exploring how the "public" in public intellectualism might be reconsidered. The second tension concerns the ongoing critiques of truth and subjectivity, exploring how these disruptions change the work of the intellectual. The third tension concerns the growing scientific and philosophical rejection of static material worlds, exploring what becomes of social responsibility and justice when agency extends beyond human subjects. Intra-Public Intellectualism will be a must read for those interested in the roles of the intellectual in the academy and beyond and those keen on rethinking critical social inquiry for the twenty-first century.

Since the 1960s, the West has moved ever-leftwards. 'Equality' and 'feelings' are central to the New Religion that rejects all traditional values. Yet beneath the institutionally dominant 'Left' stews a growing and restless 'Right'. How has this fractured situation come about? What will the future hold? In The Past is a Future Country, the authors trace it back to the Industrial Revolution. Darwinian selection massively weakened, meaning that, for the first time in history, the selfish, sick and stupid could survive and reproduce, undermining our religious, group-oriented culture. Now the West is scourged by an epidemic of narcissists, competing to signal their individuality and moral superiority. But their 'fight for equality' is really a fight for self-promotion. Reflecting this runaway individualism, Westerners increasingly don't have children, save for those who are genetically resistant to this onslaught - the staunchly conservative and religious: the eventual inheritors of the earth. But there is a dark storm brewing in the demographic data that the authors have analysed. There is a burgeoning growth in the population of exceptionally unintelligent and antisocial people that social welfare systems cannot sustain for much longer. The developed world will pass away, and the global population that depends on it will crash, in the greatest Malthusian Collapse of all time. Yet all is not lost. The authors show how a resistant class of intelligent, religious conservatives will band together to preserve enclaves of civilization that may survive most of the coming apocalypse, and from its ashes rebuild a new world: A Neo-Byzantium.

In 2050 there will be 9.3 billion people alive - compared with 7 billion today - and the number will still be rising. The population aged over sixty-five will have more than doubled, to more than 16 per cent; China's GDP will be 80 per cent more than America's; and the number of cars on India's roads will have increased by 3,880 per cent. And, in 2050 it should be clear whether we are alone in the universe. What other megachanges can we expect - and what will their impact be? This comprehensive and compelling book will cover the most significant trends that are shaping the coming decades, with each of its twenty chapters elegantly and authoritatively outlined by Economist contributors, and rich in supporting facts and figures. It will chart the rise and fall of fertility rates across continents; how energy resources will change in light of new technology, and how different nations will deal with major developments in science and warfare. Megachange is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what the next four decades hold in store.

Assessing the future is vital in informing public policy decisions. One of the most widespread approaches is the development of scenarios, which are alternative hypothetical futures. Research has indicated, however, that the reality of how professionals go about employing scenarios is often starkly at odds with the theory - a finding that has important ramifications for how the resulting images of the future should be interpreted. It also shows the need for rewriting and updating theory. This book, based on an intensive five year study of how experts actually go about assessing the future, provides a groundbreaking examination of foresighting in action. Obtained via ethnographic techniques, the results lay bare for the first time the real processes by which scenarios are made. It is also the first book to examine foresighting for public policy, which is so often overlooked in favour of business practice. From handling of discontinuity to historical determinism, the analysis reveals and explains why foresight is difficult and what the major pitfalls are. Each chapter ends with a toolkit of recommendations for practice. The book aims to help readers to reflect on their own practices of public-oriented foresight and thus to foster a deeper understanding of the key principles and challenges. Ultimately, this will lead to better informed decision making.

Five leaders of business, television, education, government, and labor address themselves in this book to the problems concerning their fields and consequently concerning the entire American citizenry. With an eye on the past history of the United States, these men discuss the various problems of the present and future and how we are to cope with them using the lessons and values of the past, as well as recognizing new concepts and ideas that have arisen. Karl R. Bopp, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, concerns him self with the problem of eliminating unemployment of men and capital without resorting to total economic planning. Frank Stanton, former President of the Columbia Broadcasting System, asks who shall determine what the people see on television and whether there is an alternative to "the public verdict" of applause or rejection. Earl J. McGrath, former U. S. Commissioner of Higher Education, raises questions relating to the performance of students and teachers at all levels of our educational establishment. Who should go to college? What differences in curricula should be encouraged? What practices and conditions will produce those intellectual and moral qualities we desire in our citizenry? Milton Katz, former Director of International Legal Studies at Harvard University, discusses the problem of increasing public understanding of the government's conduct of foreign affairs. What is the proper "mix" of professionally trained public servants and talented political "transients"? How can public antipathy to expanding "bureaucracy" be overcome in the interest of raising the quality of our foreign affairs personnel. George W. Taylor, Professor of Industry at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of President Kennedy's Advisory Committee on Labor Management Relations, notes that the "creative responses" required to maintain the nation's economic equilibrium run "deeply against the grain of our traditional thinking." How shall we respond to conflicts of private interests (labor and management) that pose threats to, or actually damage, the general welfare? Do we need institutional arrangements to defend the public interest when great economic powers collide, and, if so, what should be the role of government in these arrangements? These five men do not purport to know all of the answers to the great issues of our society. Implicit in their discussions is an invitation to the reader to enter into a dialogue with them, to examine his or her own ideas while scrutinizing theirs, to seek out further data, to confirm, to refute, or to modify. The State of the Nation: Retrospect and Prospect is an invaluable book for those interested in the problems of society. It is a summons to Americans to realize their responsibilities and privileges as citizens of a democracy in the permanent pursuit of perfection.

The commons as a contested political idea has been continually articulated and reproduced in many disciplines and in relation to specific historical and geographical contexts. Since the 1960s, the concept of commons has started to play an increasingly important role in the field of urban studies. While commons are usually perceived as the material spaces of the city such as streets, parks, public spaces, etc., they are also perceived as the immaterial public realm-including subaltern and mainstream culture, knowledge, language, and modes of sociality. As the commoning process continuously involves the substance of urban spaces, be it physical or virtual, the concept of commons has actively contributed to reshaping spatial imaginaries such as urban islands, archipelagos, and thresholds. This issue of New Geographies proposes the concept of commons as a mode of thinking that challenges assumptions in the design disciplines such as public and private spaces, local and regional geographies, and capital and state interventions. It expands the production of space as the commons into a planetary territory all the way from the intimate and subjective scale of the body to the connected material and immaterial spaces. In doing so, NG 12 aims to foreground the significance of political thinking in the process of space production, and invites to imagine alternative social relations and modes of urbanization.

The book begins with a section delving into foresight analysis, strategic foresight, and scenario planning. It then examines the pressing contexts and most wicked problems facing future leaders ranging from population growth and urbanization to climate change and resource competition. How can leaders create common cause and meet these issues with an eye toward peace, sustainability, and social justice? The book concludes with a series of unique ways of viewing the critical challenges facing leaders and suggests how skillsets and capacities needed to work on solutions to these challenges might be developed.Leadership 2050 helps us think at once about the demands our world is likely to face in the next thirty-five years and the leadership our communities and organizations will need to both survive those challenges and thrive.

From the man the Wall Street Journal describes as a 'global change guru', more than one hundred of the trends that touch every aspect of our lives. This new and updated edition looks even farther into the future, predicting trends past the first decades of the 22nd century. Patrick Dixon looks at how the future will be Fast, Urban, Tribal, Universal, Radical and Ethical - a future of boom and bust and great economic change as the emerging markets grow up; a future of great advances in medicine and also greater threats from viral epidemics; a future of political shocks and greater conflicts; a future in which people will strive for more privacy and businesses will change the way they relate to their staff and their customers; a future in which there will be driverless cars and solar power generated in the desert will power cities thousands of miles away.

In this updated edition, Dixon shows how recent developments confirm his predictive scheme:

- Artificial intelligence and robotics - profound power and influence over our future world

- Beyond Brexit - the longer term future of the EU and UK

- The long-term impact of the MeToo movement

- The future of Truth - Fake News, propaganda and impact on democracy

- Presidential leadership - rise of powerful figureheads across the world, and potential future conflicts

- And in an entirely new chapter, Dixon extends his predictive horizon to see how the future will look one hundred years from now.

Global and Culturally Diverse Leaders and Leadership explores diverse cultural leadership styles and paradigms that are dynamic, complex, globally authentic and culturally competent for the 21st century. An outstanding group of scholars considers how the different worldviews and lived experiences of leaders influence their leadership styles. They discuss several dimensions, models and initiatives for examining leadership in a global and diverse world, ultimately offering ways in which these leadership processes may be assessed and cultivated in a culturally sensitive and ecologically valid manner. Redefining leadership as global and diverse, this book imparts a new understanding of the criteria for selecting, training and evaluating leaders in the 21st century.

Mid-20th century America envisioned a wondrous future of comfort, convenience and technological advancement. Popular culture--including World's Fairs, science fiction and advertising--fed high hopes even when war and hardship threatened. American ingenuity and consumer culture promised to deliver flying cars, undersea cities, household robots and space travel. By the 1960s political assassinations, the Civil Rights and Women's Movements, the Vietnam War and the "generation gap" eroded that optimism. The nation's utopian dream was brief but revealing. Based on a wide range of sources, this book takes a fresh look at America's precipitous fall from futurism to disillusionment.

Degrowth is an emerging social movement that overlaps with proposals for systemic change such as anti-globalization and climate justice, commons and transition towns, basic income and Buen Vivir. Degrowth in Movement(s) reflects on the current situation of social movements aiming at overcoming capitalism, industrialism and domination. The essays ask: What is the key idea of the respective movement? Who is active? What is the relation with the degrowth movement? What can the degrowth movement learn from these other movements and the other way around? Which common proposals, but also which contradictions, oppositions and tensions exist? And what alliances could be possible for broader systemic transformations? Corinna Bukhart, Matthias Schmelzer, and Nina Treu have curated an impressive demonstration that there are, beyond regressive neoliberalism and techno-fixes, emancipatory alternatives contributing to a good life for all. Degrowth in Movement(s) explores this mosaic for social-ecological transformation - an alliance strengthened by diversity.

In recent times, we have all questioned whether we feel truly nurtured by where we live. With 68 per cent of the world's population predicted to live in cities by 2050, Dwellbeing is a call to stand firm on the seven pillars we cherish and so desperately need from our city homes: wilderness, nourishment, movement, connection, dwelling, imagination and love. Claire Bradbury is the ultimate urban nomad: born in the South African bush, she has spent her life working and living in cities across the globe. As an environmentalist, sustainability expert and wellbeing advocate, she explores how we can change the story of our city homes to be about dwelling, rootedness and joy, rather than a relentless rat race. She has spoken to everyone from city dwellers, street artists and planners to chefs, DJs and architects around the world to unearth the everyday actions that have the power to enhance our lives. Dwellbeing celebrates the leaders, creators and urban heroes who are rewriting the script on urban living, helping us to make the shift from 'smart' to 'lovable' cities. This beautiful book shows that, when it comes to reimagining our urban futures, everyone has a voice.

Martin Garbus draws on his extensive knowledge of constitutional law to examine how the Bush administration uses the judiciary as an extension of its own executive power and how the coming bench could imperil the American way of life by rolling back a century's worth of reforms.

Drawing up alternate ways to "make a living" beyond capitalism To live in this world is to be conditioned by capital. Once paired with Western democracy, unfettered capitalism has led to a shrinking economic system that squeezes out billions of people-creating a planet of surplus populations. Wageless Life is a manifesto for building a future beyond the toxic failures of late-stage capitalism. Daring to imagine new social relations, new modes of economic existence, and new collective worlds, the authors provide skills and tools for perceiving-and living in- a post-capitalist future. Forerunners: Ideas First Short books of thought-in-process scholarship, where intense analysis, questioning, and speculation take the lead

A WALL STREET JOURNAL, WASHINGTON POST, AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In this ground-breaking blend of imaginative storytelling and scientific forecasting, a pioneering AI expert and a leading writer of speculative fiction join forces to answer an imperative question: How will artificial intelligence change our world within twenty years? AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand new forms of communication and entertainment. In liberating us from routine work, however, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order. Meanwhile, AI will bring new risks in the form of autonomous weapons and smart technology that inherits human bias. AI is at a tipping point, and people need to wake up-both to AI's radiant pathways and its existential perils for life as we know it. In this provocative, utterly original work of "scientific fiction," Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, joins forces with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by AI. In ten gripping short stories, set twenty years in the future, they introduce readers to an array of eye-opening 2041 settings: In San Francisco, a new industry, "job reallocation," arises to serve displaced workers In Tokyo, a music fan is swept up in an immersive form of celebrity worship In Mumbai, a teenage girl rebels when AI gets in the way of romance In Seoul, virtual teachers offer orphaned twins new ways to learn and connect In Munich, a rogue quantum computer scientist's revenge plot imperils the world By gazing toward a not-so-distant horizon, AI 2041 offers urgent insights into our collective future-while reminding readers that, ultimately, humankind remains the author of its destiny.

Futures studies is a new field of inquiry involving systematic and explicit thinking about alternative futures. Wendell Bell's two-volume work "Foundations of Futures Studies" is widely acknowledged as the fundamental work on the subject. In Volume 2, Bell goes beyond possible and probable futures to the study of "preferable futures." He shows that concern with ethics, morality, and human values follows directly from the futurist purposes of discovering or inventing, examining, and proposing desirable futures. He examines moral judgments as an inescapable aspect of all decision-making and conscious action, even in the everyday lives of ordinary people. Now available in paperback with a new preface from the author, Volume 2 of "Foundations of Futures Studies" moves beyond cultural relativism to critical evaluation. Bell compares depictions of the good society by utopian writers, describes objective methods of moral judgment, assesses religion and law as sources of what is morally right, documents the existence of universal human values, and shows that if human beings are to thrive in the global society of the future, some human values must be changed.

*Longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award*

*Financial Times Book of the Month*

The full-time job is disappearing. Today more workers than ever are going freelance – driving for Uber or cycling for Deliveroo, developing software or consulting for investment banks. Welcome to the gig economy.

In Gigged, Sarah Kessler meets the people forging this new world of unorthodox employment: from the computer programmer who chooses exactly which hours he works each week, via the Uber driver who is trying to convince his peers to unionise, to the charity worker who thinks freelance gigs might just transform the fortunes of a declining rural town.

Their stories raise crucial questions about the future of work. What happens when job security, holidays and benefits become a thing of the past? How can freelancers find meaningful, well-paid employment? And could the gig economy really change the world of work for ever?