Thread by @micheleleemoore

Interested in why or how Imagination may matter to transformations? A quick thread on Imagination and Transformation based on what @ManjanaM and I learned from writing our Editorial in a Special Issue hosted in @Elementa in late 2020 doi.org/10.1525/elemen…

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending #ESG2021. Learned so much from various sessions & @cchange’s amazing keynote! As I prepped for a session on Imagination, I was drawn back to our findings. For those that missed our session, some highlights:

Initially, we had framed part of our paper around a triple failure of imagination: 1) a failure by intl negotiators, policy folks, etc to understand cc as anything but linear (see @ManjanaM's book for insights on cognitive aspects of global clim gov: bit.ly/3A4HqM6

2) these same groups also have a failure of “sociological imagination”, ie to see social structures that reproduce current unsustainable and inequitable conditions (see Norgaard’s work on this).

3) also a failure to conceive of detailed possible futures and paths for moving towards them (check out Wapner & Elver's work on this: routledge.com/Reimagining-Cl…

But through writing we also began to engage with a broad, inter- and transdisciplinary and social movement-spanning work (often of collectives) related to speculative futures incl but not limited to the longstanding, rich traditions in:

sci & tech studies, philosophy, performance and arts-based social change studies, Afrofuturism, Indigenous fiction and science-fiction, cli-fi, and so much more. What becomes clear here is that imagination of radically different futures is not failing…it’s thriving.

So, rather than total failure, failure sits with specific grps to engage imagination & be attentive to (& stop marginalizing) those that have mobilized, struggled & detailed, creative imagined possibilities. The always thoughtful @SarahLynnBurch's work speaks to this too

(Side note: some fantastic scholars have explained the problematic framings of dystopian narratives in sust sci and how those constrain what can be understood about what needs to be transformed and re-imagined. As just 2 exs, see @kylepowyswhyte doi.org/10.1177/251484…

or work by @ZoeSTodd (and so many others) doi.org/10.1177/251484…

And this is just a few paragraphs into our introduction… the remaining key points that were based on this fabulous collection of articles:

Authors show imagination is a key component of transformative agency – the special issue expanded who (and what since it is human and non-human) can be an agent of transformation, not just typical govt-CSO-business trio, but also…

authors (@manjana’s article dx.doi.org/10.1525/elemen… ), filmmakers (see DaSilva doi.org/10.1525/elemen…), collectives and movements (see e.g. Freire’s theatre of the oppressed in @laurap18 et al. dx.doi.org/10.1525/elemen…, and so many more

It’s clear from examinations of different kinds of processes designed to engage imagination: WHO imagines & what kinds of processes & inputs are used matters greatly to whether a possible transformation moves us toward addressing sustainability and justice

Relatedly, imagination is completely tangled up with power and reminds us of how we define imagination: as both individual cognitive process, & one shaped by, and shaping dynamic social processes (see Marzec's piece doi.org/10.1525/elemen… and @laurap18's linked above).

Imagination is not just a latent resource, lying around waiting for someone to engage it. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it may need building or strengthening, and like all capacities, it appears to be unevenly distributed (see @vijen doi.org/10.1525/elemen…)

If imagination is both an individual cognitive activity and a social one, how is that bridged? Many authors focused on diff communication devices, e.g. R. Mangat and @GeopolSimon explored the war metaphor used by fossil fuel divestment campaign: doi.org/10.1525/elemen…)

...and @AnnaPigott examined the ways in which the Welsh gov’ts sustainability policy was communicated doi.org/10.1525/elemen…

In the discussion on narratives, analyses often debate merits of dystopian vs utopian. @AnnaPigott's work shows both overly optimistic/pessimistic imagined futures evoke a similar effect: if too decoupled from actual, collective present they are not compelling enough to act upon

(Beyond our special issue, you can also check out @drifteur piece on the important role that narratives can play in prefiguring transformations dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futu…)

The articles together showed that deliberately designed arts, performance, tech-based, and embodied methods could strengthen imagination (in addition to @vijen, @laurap18 C DaSilva's work in the Special Issue, check out @TheGreenMerrie @Vervoort_Joost scholarship)

but there is also an ”everyday-ness” quality to imagination. It happens when we watch a movie, read a book, when someone gives a speech, during ceremony & ritual, or examining govt reports. The politics of ”future making” is continually occurring in these everyday practices.

Imagination is often assoc with creativity & freedom from reality. The articles show that it is also constrained: by unequal distrib of capacity, power, narratives, etc. Both the freeing, transcendent act & the constraints pose important Qs for what kind of future is poss. End!

Sorry meant to say the Special Issue was in @elementascience which was a fantastic, supportive experience! Thanks to @ARKapuscinski