Edward Elgar Publishing Handbook of Futures Studies

This insightful Handbook emphasizes the unique contribution that Futures Studies offers when understanding and managing current situations. Contributing authors argue that by learning to examine the future in the present, individuals and organizations can expand their abilities to analyse, assess and ultimately make better decisions. Bringing together experts across an array of disciplines, this Handbook demonstrates the connections between Futures Studies and the corresponding twin fields of sociology, anthropology, cognitive sciences and economics. Chapter authors discuss Futures Studies in public institutions, explore the necessity for better corporate foresight, and clarify the difference between Futures Studies and Anticipation Theory. Ultimately, the Handbook of Futures Studies emphasizes how focusing on the past has often elicited division and fragmentation, and posits that learning to focus on the future, and on emerging issues, has the potential to create greater convergence. This authoritative addition to the field is of great benefit to futurist academics, scholars and students as well as those specializing in the related fields of sociology, anthropology, psychology and economics. It is also an excellent resource for social practitioners and activists looking to appreciate the novelties that emerge from explicitly addressing the variety of possible futures.