{"title":"Tempering the not-yet: Towards a social theory for the Anthropocene","authors":"Barbara Adam","doi":"10.1177/13684310231221251","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The social sciences have established a plethora of ways to approach the future. Sidestepping any direct engagement with the not-yet has emerged as the dominant way to deal with its assumed non-factual nature. Social theory has laid the foundations for this bracketing with the three overarching key foci on function, meaning and structure. This article considers some of the consequences of treating the not-yet as immaterial for knowledge practices and shows the tradition to be no longer appropriate for the contemporary world. It frames arising issues through the significantly expanded perspective of the Anthropocene to revisit past approaches, explore contemporary challenges and trouble habits of mind in order to open up ways to take futurity and futuring seriously.","PeriodicalId":47808,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Theory","volume":"112 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Social Theory","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310231221251","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The social sciences have established a plethora of ways to approach the future. Sidestepping any direct engagement with the not-yet has emerged as the dominant way to deal with its assumed non-factual nature. Social theory has laid the foundations for this bracketing with the three overarching key foci on function, meaning and structure. This article considers some of the consequences of treating the not-yet as immaterial for knowledge practices and shows the tradition to be no longer appropriate for the contemporary world. It frames arising issues through the significantly expanded perspective of the Anthropocene to revisit past approaches, explore contemporary challenges and trouble habits of mind in order to open up ways to take futurity and futuring seriously.
期刊介绍:
An internationally respected journal with a wide-reaching conception of social theory, the European Journal of Social Theory brings together social theorists and theoretically-minded social scientists with the objective of making social theory relevant to the challenges facing the social sciences in the 21st century. The European Journal of Social Theory aims to be a worldwide forum of social thought. The Journal welcomes articles on all aspects of the social, covering the whole range of contemporary debates in social theory. Reflecting some of the commonalities in European intellectual life, contributors might discuss the theoretical contexts of issues such as the nation state, democracy, citizenship, risk; identity, social divisions, violence, gender and knowledge.