Markus Schulz gives a working paper on 'Reclaiming Futures: Some Initial Considerations'

This paper connects the fields of social theory and future studies with a focus on transformative knowledge and contentious politics. It explores how implicit assumptions and explicit conceptualizations shape sociology’s ability to address the future. It argues that sociology was geared

since its inception toward the collective reflection of not only present or past conditions of social existence but also of possibilities for change. While deterministic and expertocratic closures limited its potential, shifting epistemological, institutional, and social constellations allow the expansion, evasion, and re-emergence of open and contestable future orientations.