Terminology

Terminology in Foresight and Futures Studies is not consistent - which might not be a bad thing.

Confused Terminology?

Futures Studies is a field that still grapples with exactly how to describe itself. Most writers will point out a lack of consistency in terminology and suggest that the field needs to agree on a set of common definitions - but any attempt to do this, in my experience, meets with much resistance, simply because most people have their preferred terms - and language is also culturally based. But, Sardar (2010, p. 7) rightly points out that:

The terms we use to describe the study of alternative futures is important. Disciplines and discourses do not emerge from a vacuum but have a history and a cultural context; and their names can hide as much as they reveal.

Terms such as futurology, futurism, prospective, and prognostics have and still are used today. The term ‘foresight’ is used in a variety of ways – as a cognitive capacity, as practice, and as method. ‘Futures research’ is also used in opposition to ‘futures studies’, the former considered to be taking a more qua…