Dialectical Waves of Change: Using Dialectics, Emerging Issue Analysis and the Futures Wheel to Develop a Tool for Applied Futures Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 194675672110273
Author(s):  
Yannick Dujardin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dialectical Process ◽  
Practical Tool ◽  
Dialectical Analysis ◽  
Issue Analysis

The dialectical method is a well-known and often used framework for the analysis of historical processes. We argue that its features could also be useful in futures studies. This idea was confirmed during a case study for an arts center in Flanders, Belgium, when an exploration of the history of the cultural landscape made clear that dialectics would present an interesting lens for looking forward too. The need for a practical tool using dialectical analysis presented itself. This article further builds upon Timothy E. Dolan’s protocol to use dialectics as a framing tool in futures, which is worked into a technique that can be used in applied futures exercises by implementing mechanics that take into account the time it takes for emerging issues to develop within a dialectical process, as well as ways to reflect on those developments over time. In this article, different iterations of dialectics through history are explored, as well as arguments for using it in futures studies. Next, a model of “dialectical waves of change” is created by combining Dolan’s concept of “emerging contradictions” with features of Marxist dialectic, as well as with aspects of existing futures techniques such as emerging issue analysis and the futures wheel. The use of this new tool in the case study for the Flemish arts center nOna is explained and learnings from the project are discussed.

Framing Indeterminacy: Dialectical Analysis and Futures Studies

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-94
Author(s):  
Timothy E. Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Policy ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Care Policy ◽  
Human Scale ◽  
Forecasting Methods ◽  
American Health Care ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Dialectical Process ◽  
Cyclic Time ◽  
Dialectical Analysis

The dialectic is a very ancient device long used to comprehend historical process. Its versatility as a tool for informing on numerous issues of interest to those involved in futures studies is self-evident yet under-appreciated, not as a predicting device but as a framing one, much as with how catalysts work in chemistry. This piece first briefly describes the basics of the dialectical process and its application as an outcome framing method. Its connections with other forecasting methods especially with emerging issues analysis is discussed. The properties of dialectical processes are dynamic and do not necessarily conform to human-scale either temporally or spatially. Dialectical process related to social change and worldview are not subordinate to cyclic time except when artificially imposed as with political elections. The dialectical process being consistent with quantum mechanics especially as applied to technological impacts and legal enactment process will be discussed. In the latter instance, the dark matter and dark energy conundrum bear the hallmarks of a dialectical process thus far leading to an indeterminable resolution. While several examples of persistent issue contradictions to which dialectical analysis can be usefully applied are available, American health care policy is highlighted here.

scholarly journals Italian Office Desk

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (25) ◽  
pp. 95-106
Author(s):  
Imma Forino
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
New Materials ◽  
Know How ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Design ◽  
Italian Design ◽  
Office Furniture ◽  
Selection Of

In Italy the history of modern equipment design has shifted between ‘mass production and one-off’, as architects Gio Ponti and Antonio Fornaroli wrote in an article in the magazine Domus (1948). Starting from this important reflection by the two Italian architects, the article takes into consideration the case study of office furniture.The aim of the article is to identify the cultural landscape of Italian design during the twentieth century, taking into consideration the example of the office desk as fil rouge of the history of design in Italy.The methodology adopted is deductive: starting from the selection of some case studies (desks designed for some elitist furnishings or, vice versa, for serial reproduction) and in relation to the architectural and cultural context in which they were created, some key concepts are deduced in order to understand the progressive adherence of Italian architects to the idea of modernity, and then to the massification of industrial design. New materials and ancient ‘know-how’ have merged into projects that have distinguished the history of design in Italy as original.The conclusion highlights how in the history of Italian office furniture as a multi-faceted history, where elite furniture can become a democratic product, until it becomes part of the contemporary office.

scholarly journals Town, village and bush: war and cultural landscapes in south-eastern Angola (1966-2002)

Afrika Focus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge Brinkman
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

In most of the literature on the subject, urban and rural areas are presented as real physical entities that are geographically determined. Obviously such an approach is important and necessary, but in this contribution I want to draw attention to ‘the urban’ and ‘the rural’ as ideas, as items of cultural landscape rather than as physical facts. This will result both in a history of ideas and a social history of the war in Angola as experienced by civilians from the south-eastern part of the country. The article is based on a case-study that deals with the history of south-east Angola, an area that was in a state of war from 1966 to 2002. In the course of the 1990s I spoke with immigrants from this region who were resident in Rundu, Northern Namibia, mostly as illegal refugees. In our conversations the immigrants explained how the categories ‘town’ and ‘country’ came into being during colonialism and what changes occurred after the war started. They argued that during the war agriculture in the countryside became well-nigh impossible and an opposition between ‘town’ and ‘bush’ came into being that could have lethal consequences for the civilian population living in the region. This case-study on south-east Angola shows the importance of a historical approach to categories such as ‘urbanity’ and ‘rurality’ as such categories may undergo relatively rapid change – in both discourse and practice. Key words: landscape (town, country and bush), war, south-east Angola 

scholarly journals Town, village and bush: war and cultural landscapes in south-eastern Angola (1966-2002)

Afrika Focus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Inge Brinkman
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

In most of the literature on the subject, urban and rural areas are presented as real physical entities that are geographically determined. Obviously such an approach is important and necessary, but in this contribution I want to draw attention to ‘the urban’ and ‘the rural’ as ideas, as items of cultural landscape rather than as physical facts. This will result both in a history of ideas and a social history of the war in Angola as experienced by civilians from the south-eastern part of the country. The article is based on a case-study that deals with the history of south-east Angola, an area that was in a state of war from 1966 to 2002. In the course of the 1990s I spoke with immigrants from this region who were resident in Rundu, Northern Namibia, mostly as illegal refugees. In our conversations the immigrants explained how the categories ‘town’ and ‘country’ came into being during colonialism and what changes occurred after the war started. They argued that during the war agriculture in the countryside became well-nigh impossible and an opposition between ‘town’ and ‘bush’ came into being that could have lethal consequences for the civilian population living in the region. This case-study on south-east Angola shows the importance of a historical approach to categories such as ‘urbanity’ and ‘rurality’ as such categories may undergo relatively rapid change – in both discourse and practice.

Press Propaganda and Subaltern Agents of Pan-Islamic Networks in the Muslim Mediterranean World prior to World War I

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odile Moreau
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
World War I ◽  
North Africa ◽  
World War ◽  
Subaltern Studies ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
The Press ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
History Of

This chapter explores movement and circulation across the Mediterranean and seeks to contribute to a history of proto-nationalism in the Maghrib and the Middle East at a particular moment prior to World War I. The discussion is particularly concerned with the interface of two Mediterranean spaces: the Middle East (Egypt, Ottoman Empire) and North Africa (Morocco), where the latter is viewed as a case study where resistance movements sought external allies as a way of compensating for their internal weakness. Applying methods developed by Subaltern Studies, and linking macro-historical approaches, namely of a translocal movement in the Muslim Mediterranean, it explores how the Egypt-based society, al-Ittihad al-Maghribi, through its agent, Aref Taher, used the press as an instrument for political propaganda, promoting its Pan-Islamic programme and its goal of uniting North Africa.

European Integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann P. Arnason
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Totalitarian Regimes ◽  
The Eu

Different understandings of European integration, its background and present problems are represented in this book, but they share an emphasis on historical processes, geopolitical dynamics and regional diversity. The introduction surveys approaches to the question of European continuities and discontinuities, before going on to an overview of chapters. The following three contributions deal with long-term perspectives, including the question of Europe as a civilisational entity, the civilisational crisis of the twentieth century, marked by wars and totalitarian regimes, and a comparison of the European Union with the Habsburg Empire, with particular emphasis on similar crisis symptoms. The next three chapters discuss various aspects and contexts of the present crisis. Reflections on the Brexit controversy throw light on a longer history of intra-Union rivalry, enduring disputes and changing external conditions. An analysis of efforts to strengthen the EU’s legal and constitutional framework, and of resistances to them, highlights the unfinished agenda of integration. A closer look at the much-disputed Islamic presence in Europe suggests that an interdependent radicalization of Islamism and the European extreme right is a major factor in current political developments. Three concluding chapters adopt specific regional perspectives. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, are following a path that leads to conflicts with dominant orientations of the EU, but this also raises questions about Europe’s future. The record of Scandinavian policies in relation to Europe exemplifies more general problems faced by peripheral regions. Finally, growing dissonances and divergences within the EU may strengthen the case for Eurasian perspectives.

Turning Aliens into Socialists

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Jessica Moberg
Keyword(s):  
Outer Space ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Swedish History ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Highly Evolved

Immediately after the Second World War Sweden was struck by a wave of sightings of strange flying objects. In some cases these mass sightings resulted in panic, particularly after authorities failed to identify them. Decades later, these phenomena were interpreted by two members of the Swedish UFO movement, Erland Sandqvist and Gösta Rehn, as alien spaceships, or UFOs. Rehn argued that ‘[t]here is nothing so dramatic in the Swedish history of UFOs as this invasion of alien fly-things’ (Rehn 1969: 50). In this article the interpretation of such sightings proposed by these authors, namely that we are visited by extraterrestrials from outer space, is approached from the perspective of myth theory. According to this mythical theme, not only are we are not alone in the universe, but also the history of humankind has been shaped by encounters with more highly-evolved alien beings. In their modern day form, these kinds of ideas about aliens and UFOs originated in the United States. The reasoning of Sandqvist and Rehn exemplifies the localization process that took place as members of the Swedish UFO movement began to produce their own narratives about aliens and UFOs. The question I will address is: in what ways do these stories change in new contexts? Texts produced by the Swedish UFO movement are analyzed as a case study of this process.

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