Call for Papers

Modes of Futurity: Projects, Prophecies, and Panics

 

How do we imagine and shape the future?

The present crisis may lead to catastrophe, yet humanity’s capacity for reason means it can still mitigate disaster and elaborate alternatives. The future is not only the object of rational planning and grounded extrapolation but also of imaginative reconstruction and dreams. While extrapolation often meets disbelief or denial and thus warrants examination in its own right, the quest for an imaginative reconstitution remains one of the noblest tasks—one that demands sustained attention. Imaginative visions and surreal dreams may challenge rationalistic forecasting, yet they also open unique windows toward better futures.

Attitudes toward the future range from distant expectations of progress to concrete projects (Ent-Würfe), and from cautious anticipation to urgent reactions reflected in panics and emergency measures. Creative responses to these attitudes appear in diverse forms—utopias, strategic plans, literary prophecies, and passionate manifestos. Stasis seeks contributions engaging with this full spectrum of genres and approaches.

The unexpected turns of recent history underscore the need for such reflection. Contemporary Russia’s transformation from a liberal democracy into a conservative despotism was neither inevitable nor obvious while it was unfolding. Yet in the 2000s and 2010s, certain Russian writers—Viktor Pelevin, Vladimir Sorokin, Dmitry Bykov, Dmitry Glukhovsky—anticipated the present descent into war and autocracy with a metaphorical precision that often surpassed “scientific” forecasts. Similar competitions between fictional and analytical prediction have appeared elsewhere: consider Hollywood portrayals of terrorist attacks prior to September 11 (Independence Day) or of pandemics (Contagion). If these cultural forms have demonstrated predictive power, their models for the near future may prove even more valuable today.

We invite authors to reflect on questions including (but not limited to):

• What relations to the future remain viable amid the current prevalence of presentism and the crisis of progressivism? What historical precedents might inform them?

• How do utopian genres engage with other modes of futurity such as prophecies and political projects?

• What mythological or theological undercurrents shape popular apocalyptic and catastrophic narratives?

• What mechanisms underpin literary prophecy? How can one distinguish the plausible predictions from the many that fail?

• Can literary prophecy become self-fulfilling—not only through explicit dystopian scenarios, but also through the collective imaginary they draw upon?

• How does literary imagination intersect with scholarly forecasting and scenario-building? Can intellectual projects and fiction form productive alliances?

• Can such visions be mobilized to avert the worst outcomes of unforeseen historical turns?

• Is there still space today for utopian, rather than anti-utopian, fiction?