Planning Just Futures

Abstract

In 2020, without much thinking I said ‘yes’ to working on an Interface about planning just futures. Futures planning is at least, to some degree, a hopeful activity, and I had agreed, implicitly, to find other people who think a lot about futures and planning during a less than inspirational time. An enduring pandemic had swept across the world, most acutely affecting poor people and people of color. At the same time, in the United States, some of the largest civil uprisings in recent history, protesting police violence against Black people, were taking place. Writing about futures and optimism for change has felt absurd at times in the malaise of COVID-19, protest, and politics. I found myself talking with contributors about what it means to talk about hope in the face of such sadness and loss, to still know that we must push towards the just future. I encouraged authors, and myself, to reject the idea of producing falsely optimistic pieces, but to share visions of hope, ideas for paths forward, and reflections on now. As a less optimistic person, I appreciated what other contributors shared, and how our different ways of thinking might assemble some type of guide for those planning scholars and practitioners looking for the – what happens now? In the writings, you will not find rose-colored glasses. You will also not find recommendations to stop doing the work of reaching just futures. Instead we make suggestions, offer insights, and ask questions about what it means to engage in our futures at this moment in time. Each essay offers its unique contribution, with several themes emerging across them. I want to highlight the ones that have kept me thinking, and hoping for planning scholarship and practice.