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Time to change? Technologies of futuring and transformative change in Nepal’s climate change policy

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  • Forsyth, Tim

Abstract

This paper calls for a more critical analysis of implicit social values in time-based projections of transformative change in climate change policy in developing countries. The paper argues that transformative change is a form of socio-technical imaginary, in which contemporary visions of social order influence supposedly technical, and apolitical policies and timelines. To analyse these imaginaries, the paper applies the framework of ‘technologies of futuring’, or the processes in which projections about the future are imbued with implicit values, to different theories of change used to propose responses to climate change in Nepal. The paper shows that projections of future change are linked to assumptions about physical risks and social agency that reflect different, and contestable, worldviews. This chapter concludes that discussions about transformative change need to make assumptions about risk and society more transparent when proposing urgent deadlines based on assumptions about the future.

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  • Forsyth, Tim, 2021. "Time to change? Technologies of futuring and transformative change in Nepal’s climate change policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107544, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:107544
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107544/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    transformative change; socio-technical imaginary; Nepal; climate change; STS and change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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