Selling the future : the perils of predicting global politics /

Selling the future : the perils of predicting global politics /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Colonomos, Ariel, author.
Uniform title:	Politique des oracles. English
Imprint:	New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016] ©2016
Description:	xiv, 225 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.
Language:	English
Series:	The series in comparative politics and international studies Comparative politics and international studies series.
Subject:	Forecasting -- Political aspects. Economic forecasting -- Political aspects. International relations -- Forecasting. World politics -- 21st century -- Forecasting. Social prediction -- Political aspects. Economic forecasting -- Political aspects. International relations -- Forecasting. World politics -- Forecasting.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10828844

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:	Elliott, Gregory, translator.
ISBN:	9780190603649 019060364X
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-217) and indexes. Translated from the French.
Summary:	"In an age of uncertainty, those who can anticipate revolution, the outbreak of wars, or which states might default are much in demand. The marketplace of ideas about the future is huge, and includes 'wonks', scholars and pundits who produce scenarios, predictions and ratings. The more opaque the future seems to be, so the relation between knowledge and power intensifies, above all the nexus between those who sell their expertise and those who consume it. In his investigation of the paradoxes of forecasting, Ariel Colonomos interrogates today's knowledge factories to reveal how our futures are shaped by social scientists, think tanks and rating agencies. He explains why conservative and linear predictions prevail, and why the future, especially when linked to national interest, reflects a systematic search for stability. The notion of a globalized world whose main characteristic is speed, and where predictions have accelerating, self-fulfilling effects, is obsolete. Those who are supposed to know, reassure those who are supposed to act. Their preferences converge, and thus the industry of the future has a decelerating effect on world politics. These 'lords of knowledge' reinforce pre-existing beliefs, create expectations about the future, while obstructing its vision when -- inevitably -- it diverges from its orderly path"--Provided by publisher.

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Call Number:	JZ1242 .C6513 2016
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