This post and the next one will consider some of the broader learnings and thoughts that emerged from my doctoral research. This post will focus on some theoretical aspects and their possible applications and implications. One core aspect is what I term prospective knowledge practices (PKPs). In my thesis I define a PKP as: An … [Read more…]
The previous post discussed research aims. This post shifts focus to consider in a bit more detail the study that I conducted, arguments made in the thesis, and related claims. The study: I conducted a series of impact evaluations, and a related case study, which examined the “futures forums” conducted by a research group at … [Read more…]
I’ve decided to write a series of posts reviewing and reflecting on my doctoral research and considering future directions such inquiry could be taken in. Such posts might be of interest to others thinking of conducting research on forms of forward-looking inquiry and engagement (in addition to a personal moment of reflection). This post begins … [Read more…]
Last week I received a letter from University of Technology Sydney (UTS) stating that the Graduate Research School at UTS has recommended (to the Academic Board) that I be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (the degree will be conferred in March). This letter more formally marks the completion of what has been … [Read more…]
One of the outputs of my PhD research is the concept of prospective knowledge practices. The purpose of this post is to outline this concept and some of its potential benefits versus other terms that are commonly used (e.g. “foresight practices”, “futures research”, etc.). My introduction to the concept of knowledge practices – which informs … [Read more…]
This post began as a research “memo” (written to myself as an entry in a reflective PhD journal) entitled “on psychological plausibility”. I was prompted to write it by a couple of pieces written by David Roberts on current debates about 100% renewable electricity and the feasibility of such goals (see link, link) and other … [Read more…]
The latest issue of the Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning is a special issue on “The Politics of Transition” (link). In the introductory essay the special issue editors argue that sustainability transitions “involve politics in the broadest sense of the word”. They cite a broad conceptualisation of politics – proposed by Adrian Leftwich in … [Read more…]
Last year I discovered Jens Beckert’s research on the role of fictional expectations in the economy. Beckert interestingly contrasts the concept of fictional expectations with notion of rational expectations in economic theory, and in his recently published book Imagined Futures: Fictional Expectations and Capitalist Dynamics he further develops a sociological theory of expectations. Beckert’s work … [Read more…]
As recently reported in the Guardian newspaper a new modelling study was recently published by the Institute for Sustainable Futures which looked at the potential cost and benefits of a rapid transition towards a renewable energy future here in Australia. The headline finding from this study – emphasised by the media in a slightly simplistic … [Read more…]
The question of “exactly how politics should be theorised and brought into analysis of sustainability transitions” (Lockwood 2016) has been raised by sustainability transition researchers. This post is a research memo (written as part of my doctoral research) which considers a key question: should those examining politics in sustainability transitions pay more attention to expectations … [Read more…]