Paper short abstract:

The presentation draws on insights from the work on, the discussions about, and the media reactions to, two recent publications these experiences to reflexively engage in a discussion on futuring and the role of social scientists in imagining and making post-fossil futures.

Paper long abstract:

What does it mean to do social science research on climate futures and to intervene in public debates about these very futures? How can we conceptualize and assess the social plausibility of climate futures, and at the same time reflect on our role as social scientists in shaping imaginations about these futures? The presentation draws on insights from the work on, the discussions about, and the media reactions to, two recent publications: the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook examining the plausibility of a global shift to deep decarbonization (Stammer et al. 2021; Engels et al. 2023), and the Klimawende-Assessment analyzing the societal dynamics of the German climate transformation (Aykut et al. 2024). It uses these experiences to reflexively engage in a discussion on futuring (Oomen et al., 2021) and the role of social scientists in imagining and making post-fossil futures