“The capacity to project into the future is an essential component of our agency as human beings. It’s in our imaginations, yet it has a real impact upon what we do. It draws us forward in different ways,” said Ann Mische, an associate professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
Mische’s research interests include the sociology of culture, social movements, and political sociology. Her current project examines how projections of future possibilities can influence decision-making and deliberation. As a pilot project, she is looking at the narrative construction of the future at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development and the accompanying People Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012.
“What is interesting to me is the way that people differently positioned in a political field will be developing their ideas of the future in a kind of dialogue,” said Mische. “And this dialogue is really important to understanding the way that we address … critical issues for the future of the earth.”
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Originally published by at al.nd.edu on October 14, 2014.