Wagar pulls together all aspects of futures studies in this unique
volume--comprising a vital introduction to, and defense of, the
impressive array of futurist inquiry. The book examines how
futurists think and work. It compares and analyzes their ideas on a
wide range of topics, including the environment, politics,
economics, war and peace, and sociocultural issues. Wagar also
shows how the three ideological paradigms within the futures field,
the technoliberal, the radical, and the countercultural, play a
role in the study of the future. The organizing theme of this
unique work by W. Warren Wagar is the way in which images of
alternative futures are shaped by ideological differences in the
present. Wagar identifies three principal camps of futurist
thought: technoliberals, radicals, and counterculturalists. By far
the largest group are the technoliberals--supporters of
parliamentary democracy, civil liberties, free enterprise, and
technological progress. Radicals occupy the Marxist and
democratic-socialist Left, while counterculturalists espouse
decentralist, eco-pacifist, and New Age values. The Next Three
Futures pulls together all aspects of futures studies--comprising a
vital introduction and outline of the many worlds of futurist
inquiry. The book consists of two parts: the first an examination
of how futurists think and work; the second a comparative and
critical analysis of their ideas on a wide variety of topics. After
a short prologue, the first chapter defines the scope and
limitations of futures research, and discusses its chief
methodologies. The next chapter gives a valuable intellectual
history of futurism from its earliest origins, with special
emphasis on the work of H. G. Wells. The idea of the ideological
paradigm in futures studies is described in the third chapter. The
following four chapters, making up part two, investigate the
thinking of contemporary futurists on the environment, economic and
political developments, war and peace, and societal/cultural
issues. Wagar's epilogue considers the possibility that the
technoliberal, radical, and countercultural futures may all lie
ahead for humankind, but at different stages and times in the years
to come. This highly readable volume will be of great value to
students of futurism, futurists, political scientists,
sociologists, economic forecasters, environmentalists, and anyone
else fascinated by the study of the future.
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