The Politics of Futurity

Futurity is the quality or state of being of or concerned with the prospects and possibilities of a future time, event, or continuing and renewed existence. It is an approach, a perspective, and framework for thought and action. In this course we explore some of the conceptual elements and political methods that can be used toward a politics of futurity. We will examine approaches in political theory and practice that go beyond both liberalism and 20th century socialisms and seek to understand what a 21st century paradigm that centers the politics of care might include. We will discuss how political horizons are constructed in popular discourse and political action; the structural relations of race, coloniality, and indigeneity and what it would take to change those relations; abolition democracy; the politics of gender; disability justice; and the political economy of degrowth.