Introduction to Anticipation Studies

Authors: Poli, Roberto

Springer International Publishing, 2017

This book presents the theory of anticipation, and establishes anticipation of the future as a legitimate topic of research. It examines anticipatory behavior, i.e. a behavior that ‘uses’ the future in its actual decisional process. The book shows that anticipation violates neither the ontological order of time nor causation. It explores the question of how different kinds of systems anticipate, and examines the risks and uses of such anticipatory practices.   The book first summarizes the research on anticipation conducted within a range of different disciplines, and describes the connection between the anticipatory point of view and futures studies. Following that, its chapters on Wholes, Time and Emergence, make explicit the ontological framework within which anticipation finds its place. It then goes on to discuss Systems, Complexity, and the Modeling Relation, and provides the scientific background supporting anticipation. It restricts formal technicalities to one chapter, and presents those technicalities twice, in formal and plain words to advance understanding. The final chapter shows that all the threads presented in the previous chapters naturally converge toward what has come to be called “Discipline of Anticipation”

PrintEmail

Updated version of the Conference on ANTICIPATION programme

The fourth updated version of the programme for the afternoon sessions of the 1^st International Conference on Anticipation is published at the Programme page. Minor changes in the organization of the sessions are still possible.

At your best convenience please register at
http://webmagazine.unitn.it/evento/sociologia/3000/first-international-conference-on-anticipation
and book your room. From the right side of the registration page you may download instructions about how to reach Trento and a list of hotels and other accommodations.

PrintEmail

Anticipation through Migration?

Migration processes and policies as a source of critical insight on anticipation

Convenors: Paolo Boccagni, Milena Belloni (University of Trento)

This workshop, which is part of an International Conference on Anticipation (November 5-7, 2015), aims to revisit international migration as a field for the development of anticipation studies. By combining research on migrant’s life experience, on migration-related institutions and on migration policies, it will assess the prospects for anticipation and future studies to feed into migration studies, and on the mutual connections between these research fields.

Contacts: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Deadline for abstract submission (250 words): June 15, 2015

Further information:  http://www.projectanticipation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=587

PrintEmail

Anticipatory Engineering

What might the explicit acknowledgement of anticipation contribute to existing engineering practice and theory? Whenever an engineer creates a model of a system the purpose is almost certainly to anticipate scenarios, usually resulted from a trade-off between expected performance and available budget. 

Are there costs of being trapped in a functional role of instrumental rationality?

The special session of International Conference on Anticipation (November 5-7, 2015), will focus on how anticipation and related topics could illuminate problems in engineering.

Convenors:

• Mike Yearworth (Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, UK)
• Janet Willis Singer (International Society for the Systems Sciences, Santa Cruz, USA)
• Rick Adcock (Cranfield Defence and Security, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, UK)
• Michael Singer (International Society for the Systems Sciences, Santa Cruz, USA)
• Duane Hybertson (The MITRE Corp, Washington DC, USA)

Contacts: mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  - Mike Yearworth

Deadline for abstract submission (250 words): June 15, 2015

Further information in the website  www.projectanticipation.org

The registration is already open: https://webapps.unitn.it/Apply/en/Web/Home/convegni

PrintEmail