Call for Papers
Politics for Fragile Futures: Anticipation, Interdependence and the Responsibility of Imagination
Special Issue of the Journal of Futures Studies
Guest Editors: Manuela Celi, Victoria Rodriguez Schon and Ivana Milojević
Emerging from conversations developed around the 6th International Conference on Anticipation, held at Politecnico di Milano in 2026 under the theme Staying with the Unknown: Paradox, Uncertainty, and the Praxis of Hope, this Special Issue invites contributions exploring the ethical, political, and relational dimensions of imagining and shaping futures in times of uncertainty and planetary interdependence.
Amid ecological crises, geopolitical instability, widening inequalities, and technological transformations, the capacity to imagine and shape futures remains unevenly distributed. Bringing hope, care, and planetarity into conversation, this Special Issue asks how anticipatory practices might challenge dominant imaginaries, engage with unequal vulnerabilities and responsibilities, and cultivate more just, inclusive, and life-sustaining possibilities.
The Journal of Futures Studies welcomes theoretical, empirical, methodological, and practice-based contributions that critically examine the politics of anticipation and explore alternative ways of imagining, negotiating, and enacting collective futures.
Key Themes and Guiding Questions
Sustaining Possibility
- How might hope, anxiety, wonder, and estrangement shape anticipatory practices?
- How can situated forms of hope sustain possibilities for change amid exclusion and inequality?
Care, Repair, and Responsibility
- What can feminist and care-based perspectives contribute to the politics of futures?
- How might anticipatory practices respond to unequal vulnerabilities, historical injustices, and responsibilities for repair?
Planetary and More-than-Human Relations
- How can futures practices engage with ecological interdependence and more-than-human relations?
- What imaginaries and collective practices might support more just and equitable planetary futures?
Plural and Contested Futures
- How do geopolitical narratives, borders, and power relations shape whose futures are imagined and legitimised?
- How might futures practices challenge dominant imaginaries and expand participation in shaping alternatives?
Living with Uncertainty
- How can affect, aesthetics, and creative practices help us engage with uncertainty?
- How might design, art, and narrative foster collective imagination and transformative action?
Important Dates and Submission Guidelines
- Abstract submission deadline: 15 December 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 29 January 2027
- Full paper submission deadline: 15 April 2027
- Expected publication: July 2027
Manuscripts should be submitted through the Journal of Futures Studies online submission system at https://ojs.jfsdigital.org/index.php/jfs/about/submissions, indicating “Politics for Fragile Futures” as the Special Issue.
For submission guidelines and formatting requirements, please consult the Journal of Futures Studies guidelines: https://jfsdigital.org/invitation-to-authors/
For inquiries about the Special Issue, please contact Victoria Rodriguez Schon (victoria.rodriguez@polimi.it) and Manuela Celi (manuela.celi@polimi.it).
We look forward to receiving your contributions!