Arts of futuring

/ Reflecting on the future, futuring, and Catherine Leroux’s dystopian novel The Future

The future does not exist. It is imagined.

This is how the developing field of “futuring” conceptualises the future. It is not yet made, not inevitable. It is always in the making.

Transforming “the future” from a static noun into a fluid verb of possibility can be liberating, particularly in the context of climate change. Taking a futuring approach, the bleak climate-altered future portrayed in policymakers’ and scientists’ worst-case scenarios is not a fait accompli. Futuring refers to a way of thinking and behaving in the present that more thoughtfully considers the consequences of our actions for future generations. Futuring encapsulates some of the core elements that have long been part of environmentalist thought.

Futuring and futures literacy

Futures literacy — our ability to think about the future through our present actions — depends on our faculties of imagination, how well we can look forward and prepare for what is coming. It is an increasingly vital skill. According to the United Nations, futures literacy “helps people understand why and how we use the future to prepare, plan, and interact with the complexity and novelty of our societies.” It is part of how we become more resilient.

As we reckon with how to hone our futuring skills and develop futures literacy, turning towards art may be beneficial. Artists are expert at imagining what does not yet exist, what is possible. Imagination is essential to artistic practice. Specifically imagining the future is central to so much climate fiction literature, particularly those novels which fall under the canon of speculative fiction. Speculative fiction weaves narratives speculating what might happen and has spurred many sub-genres, including: Afrofuturism, feminist futurism, Indigenous futurism, and queer futurism. These sub-genres delve into the imagined futures of groups often marginalised in present societies. These speculative fictions can be optimistically hopeful, like the stories of solarpunk, but more often they are dystopian. Dystopian novels like The Future by French Canadian author Catherine Leroux can be distressing yet surprisingly hopeful, shining a light on the good that is possible even in the bleakest moments. The Future is a beautifully written novel that reverses the dystopian genre according to…