Speculating on Future Presents:Sociology, Futures and Fictions

With the resurgence of sociological interest in futures since the turn of the century, scholars argue that sociology should both analyze how other social actors imagine futures and become active in its own forms of ‘future making’. To that end, this chapter is an experiment in writing about the future that recognizes the value of speculative fiction or science fiction for sociological analyses and engagements with futurity, and is inspired by work of Afrofuturist scholars. Its point of departure is the 2020 film Tenet written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Informed by my viewing of the film and the field of sociology of futures, my narrative attempts to take the standpoint of future people—the people who invented a process of unfuturing—that seeks to undo the damage caused to their present lives by the actions of past generations. I adopt the speculative narrative as a social science method of future-making that both confronts others’ stories and visions of the future and is infused with ideas from the sociology of futures, especially ideas about responsibility and action.