Imagining Collective Futures: Perspectives from Social, Cultural and Political Psychology (Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture)

"It is a commonly held assumption among cultural, social, and political psychologists that imagining the future of societies we live in has the potential to change how we think and act in the world. However little research has been devoted to whether this effect exists in collective imaginations, of social groups, communities and nations, for instance. This book explores the part that imagination and creativity play in the construction of collective futures, and the diversity of outlets in which these are presented, from fiction and cultural symbols to science and technology. The authors discuss this effect in social phenomena such as in intergroup conflict and social change, and focus on several cases studies to illustrate how the imagination of collective futures can guide social and political action. This book brings together theoretical and empirical contributions from cultural, social, and political psychology to offer insight into our constant (re)imagination of the societies in which we live." -- Prové de l'editor Contents 6 Notes on Contributors 9 List of Figures 13 1: Introduction: What May the Future Hold? 14 The Question of the Future in Psychology 16 Structure and Outline of the Book 21 References 24 Section I: Imagining the Future 26 2: Imagining the Collective Future: A Sociocultural Perspective 27 A Sociocultural Model of Imagination 28 Collective Imagination of the Future: Centralization and Emotional Valence 31 Travelling to the Moon: From Distributed and Implausible to Centralized and Plausible 34 Imagining Socialism: From Distributed to Centralized but with Polarizing Valence 38 Discussion 43 References 46 3: Framing the Issue: Literature, Collective Imagination, and Fan Activism 50 Imagination 51 Imagination as Literature 53 Literature as Future-Forward Imagination 54 The Case of The Jungle 56 The Case of Fan Activism 59 Activism: Shifting Perspectives on Ourselves 61 Activism: Shifting Perspective on Other Issues for Themselves and Others 63 Conclusion 64 There Are Limits to the Direction of Imagination 64 Literature Can Be Used to Direct Imaginations 65 References 65 4: Thinking Through Time: From Collective Memories to Collective Futures 70 Introduction 70 Memory and Imagination 71 Remembering History and Imagining the Future 73 Collective Memory to Imagine Collective Futures 75 Frames of Reference in Parliamentary Debates on Immigration 75 Analogies in Historical Reasoning 80 Generalisations: Metamemory and Personal World Philosophies 83 Thinking Through Time: Temporal Heteroglossia in Our Representations of the World 85 References 88 5: Perspectival Collective Futures: Creativity and Imagination in Society 93 Creativity, Imagination, and Society 95 Perspectival Collective Futures 98 Imagining for Others 101 Imagining with Others 104 Imagining Towards Others 107 Final Thoughts and a Critical Agenda 109 References 111 Section II: Collective Imaginations 116 6: Imagining Collective Futures in Time: Prolepsis and the Regimes of Historicity 117 Prolepsis and the Regimes of Historicity 120 Before Modernity: The Future Outside History or the Hereafter as a Promise 121 Modernity: The Future Inside History or Progress as a Promise 122 Utopias of Modernity: The Imagined Futures We Must Fight For 123 Crisis of Modernity: Stranded in the Present or Haunted by the Past? 125 The Memory Boom: We Cannot Forget ... 126 Nostalgia or Bringing the Past Back to the Future: If Only We Could Go Back to the Good Old Days... 127 Nostalgia or Seeking the Future in the Past: If Things Had Been Different, We Could Have... 129 Conclusion: Prolepsis and Politics of Imagination 130 References 133 7: Utopias and World-Making: Time, Transformation and the Collective Imagination 137 Introduction 137 How Humans Construct Utopias 139 Humans Have a Future- Oriented Psychology 139 Imagination: Transcending the Present and Engaging the Absent 141 Utopias Are Built from the Past 144 Utopias Reflect the Present 146 How Utopias Construct Societies 147 Imagining the Collective Present 147 Utopias Relativise the Present and Open It to Change 148 The Eternal Present of Utopia 149 The Perils of Proclaiming Utopias in the Present 150 Conclusion: The Future of Utopias 152 References 155 8: Troubled Pasts, Collective Memory, and Collective Futures 160 Transitional Justice and Prefiguring the Future 160 Troubled Pasts, Collective Futures, and Mnemonic Imagination 163 Case Background 165 Pre-empting the Future: Time and National Identity 167 Communism as the Other 169 Conclusion 174 References 177 9: Imagining Collective Identities Beyond Intergroup Conflict 180 Cultural and Geopolitical Context: Imagining Futures from the Past 181 Characteristics of Shifting Collective Identities 184 The Role of Social Representations in Forming, Maintaining and Transforming Collective Identities 187 Narratives as the Architecture of Social Representations 189 Themata as the Foundation of Social Representations and Collective Identities 191 Directions of an Imagined Future 194 The Imagined Future of Research 198 References 199 Section III: Creating Socio-Political Change 204 10: Creating Alternative Futures: Cooperative Initiatives in Egypt 205 From Imagination to Prefigurative Politics to Sustainable Change 207 Historical Background of Cooperatives 210 Cooperative Movements in Egypt 212 Beyond Protest: Different Cooperative Trials After Revolution 213 Three Case Studies 214 Transportation Cooperative in Fayoum 214 Recycling Cooperative in Helwan 215 A Cooperative for Cooperatives in Fayoum 216 Analysis and Discussion: Collective Imagination and Social Change 217 Conclusion: Social Change Between Hope and Despair 222 References 224 11: Remembering and Imagining in Human Development: Fairness and Social Movements in Ireland 226 Remembering, Imagining, and Perceptions of Fairness 227 Deprivation—Protest Paradox: Anti-water Protests in the Republic of Ireland 229 Remembering and Imagining the Privatization of Water 231 Conclusion 235 References 238 12: Creating Integration: A Case Study from Serbia and the EU 241 Serbia and the EU: From In-Between to Being a Part 242 Belonging “There” While Remaining “Us”: Identity and Continuity 245 Creating Integration: The Importance of Compatibility and Continuity 248 Conclusion 254 References 255 13: History Education and the (Im)possibility of Imagining the Future 259 History Education as a Relation of Past, Present and Future 259 History and Its Tensions in the Present 260 Orwell’s 1984 as a Pioneering Contribution to Social Sciences 263 1984 as a Soft Metaphor of History Education 267 Conclusion 271 References 272 14: Conclusion: Changing Imaginings of Collective Futures 276 Individual and Collective Imagination 276 Imagination and Images 279 Imagination as Decoupling 280 Imagination as Embedded in the Flow of Thinking 281 Images as Products of Imagination 284 Interdependencies and Oppositions Between the Self and Others 285 Collective Imaginations as Hopes and Fears 286 Collective Futures Are Rooted in the Past 289 Collective Imagination as a Semiotic Process 290 The Future of Collective Imaginations 292 References 294 Index 298 Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction: What May the Future Hold? (Constance de Saint-Laurent, Sandra Obradović, Kevin R. Carriere)....Pages 1-12 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Imagining the Collective Future: A Sociocultural Perspective (Tania Zittoun, Alex Gillespie)....Pages 15-37 Framing the Issue: Literature, Collective Imagination, and Fan Activism (Kevin R. Carriere)....Pages 39-58 Thinking Through Time: From Collective Memories to Collective Futures (Constance de Saint-Laurent)....Pages 59-81 Perspectival Collective Futures: Creativity and Imagination in Society (Vlad Petre Glăveanu)....Pages 83-105 Front Matter ....Pages 107-107 Imagining Collective Futures in Time: Prolepsis and the Regimes of Historicity (Ignacio Brescó de Luna)....Pages 109-128 Utopias and World-Making: Time, Transformation and the Collective Imagination (Sandra Jovchelovitch, Hana Hawlina)....Pages 129-151 Troubled Pasts, Collective Memory, and Collective Futures (Cristian Tileagă)....Pages 153-172 Imagining Collective Identities Beyond Intergroup Conflict (Cathy Nicholson, Caroline Howarth)....Pages 173-196 Front Matter ....Pages 197-197 Creating Alternative Futures: Cooperative Initiatives in Egypt (Eman A. Maarek, Sarah H. Awad)....Pages 199-219 Remembering and Imagining in Human Development: Fairness and Social Movements in Ireland (Séamus A. Power)....Pages 221-235 Creating Integration: A Case Study from Serbia and the EU (Sandra Obradović)....Pages 237-254 History Education and the (Im)possibility of Imagining the Future (Mario Carretero)....Pages 255-271 Conclusion: Changing Imaginings of Collective Futures (Ivana Marková)....Pages 273-294 Back Matter ....Pages 295-298