It made me think of the role of ideology in shaping not just the application of futures studies/foresight but also its methods. In the USSR, any kind of futures work had to align with Marxist teleology (scenarios don’t sit well with that). We can see how ideologically rigid this is.

To give one example, Futuribles, the organisation and research network de Jouvenel founded in the early 60s, was backed by the Congress of Cultural Freedom, a CIA-supported, anti-communist propaganda front enlisting intellectuals in the war of ideas against communism in cold war Europe.

Was reading the classic Art of Conjecture by Bertrand de Jouvenel this morning. He was a French futurist who did a lot to cement futures studies in Europe in the 60s. Between him and Herman Kahn (the inspiration for Dr. Strangelove) it’s safe to say the field has some... interesting origins.