Abstract
In an era marked by ecological crisis, technological acceleration, and sociopolitical fragmentation, the category of “community” is increasingly structured by temporal imaginaries—narratives of past decline, present urgency, and future possibility. This paper argues that contemporary humanities must reorient themselves not only beyond geopolitical borders but also beyond epistemic and temporal boundaries to meaningfully reimagine the human condition in the twenty-first century. Drawing on emerging work in speculative humanities, critical planning theory, and anticipatory governance, the study explores how dominant visions of the future (in policy, climate discourse, urban design) shape inclusion and exclusion in civic and political space. It shows how “official” futures—technocratic, securitized, depoliticized—often reinforce historical injustice, marginalize alternative epistemologies, and reproduce what may be called temporal borders: zones where certain lives, knowledges, or claims are suspended in anticipation. The paper proposes a reflexive and pluralist framework for the humanities that treats the future not as a fixed horizon but as a contested field of meaning, identity, and power. Drawing examples from climate governance, digital urbanism, and speculative fiction, it suggests that reimagining community requires rethinking temporality itself, as an ethical, political, and cultural problem. In doing so, the paper situates the humanities as a critical site where “imagined communities” (Anderson) and unimagined exclusions are negotiated. It calls for a humanistic politics of anticipation capable of bridging across temporal, cultural, and epistemic divides to sustain more just and inclusive futures.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Civic, Political, and Community Studies
KEYWORDS
TEMPORALITY, EPISTEMIC JUSTICE, FUTURE STUDIES, CIVIC IMAGINATION, POSTDISCIPLINARY HUMANITIES
