World Futures Studies Federation: histories and futures

摘要

A look back at the origins of the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) show that, in contrast with its larger US cousin, the World Futures Society (WFS), the WFSF was created by people who dissented from the emerging status quo in the world and who wished to 'open up' the domain to cultural pluralism. In his account of the first 15 years Bart van Steenbergen quotes Robert Jungk on the emergence of new futures techniques. He said that: these powerful tools should not be restricted to a technocratic elite, for the future belongs to all of us and for that reason it is absolutely essential that future research is internationalised and democratised as soon as possible. Later Steenbergen adds that 'there was full agreement that it should be a genuine international organisation and not one dominated by the Western world.' He also writes of the many debates and conflicts that took place but also identifies two other features of the organisation. It 'played a major role as a breeding ground for future futurists' and it attempted to maintain a suitable 'distance from the powers that be.'