Suchergebnisse

PurposeExpanding on the findings of the SOPIFF research project, this paper aims to identify eight futures schools of thought, which are analyzed and critiqued through an integral framework. As "Part II" of a previous publication, it seeks to focus on the lower (plural) quadrants.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adapts Ken Wilber's integral theory to clarify various philosophical orientations to the future. It also adapts Fredrich Polak's approach to futures as a matter of "social critique and reconstruction"; however, the approach is global, civilizational, and integral, so it proposes civilizational critique and integral reconstruction as a method for evaluating futures schools of thought.FindingsThe IF framework is found to be a valuable theoretical and analytical tool for clarifying images of the future; it shows lines of development within each quadrant and interactions between quadrants, illustrating the effectiveness of the four‐quadrant approach.Research limitations/implicationsIt further illuminates the "global problematique" expressed in the SOPIFF project and proposes the IF framework as a way to interpret those research findings.Practical implicationsThis approach to futures/foresight studies broadens the range and offers more depth to conceptions of the future, so it should help to develop/improve futures methodologies/practices in general.Social implicationsCivilizational critique and integral reconstruction of images of the future imply unprecedented social change.Originality/valueThe paper should help futurists to see and interpret the "bigger picture" of civilizational futures through revealing the "crack" of the modern image of the future, how it relates to the current world crisis, and what is needed to heal the crack, so a new vision of a preferred future can emerge.

Purpose
– The aim of this paper is to test and explore the hypothesis global ruling power, as well as review the six approaches featured in the special edition on global governance/ruling power.


Design/methodology/approach
– Anthropological and historical records are presented as support for the emergence of ruling power in society; moreover, evidence of global ruling governance/power is reviewed in the six papers featured in the special edition.


Findings
– Alternatives for global governance are reviewed in two papers, while four papers present evidence in support of the thesis of the emergence of a transnational ruling power/class.


Research limitations/implications
– Because global ruling power exists informally and surreptitiously, the exact mechanisms of control are difficult to delineate, especially due to the fact that the Powers that Be spend much effort to block research into this area; however, this special edition opens up a promising area for new research efforts into global ruling power and the potential for global democracy.


Practical implications
– Practical implications, although minimal in the short-term, increase as awareness grows, and policy alternatives are considered for the transition to a long-term, democratic global future.


Social implications
– Once social consciousness grows about the non-democratic, authoritarian nature of global ruling power/elite, the more the momentum will grow for reforms in the direction of global democracy – towards a more sustainable and equitable global system, politically, economically and ecologically.


Originality/value
– This paper represents a relatively new area for interdisciplinary research into global futures. Futurists, political scientists and sociologists should find it valuable.