Paper long abstract:

A growing number of experts aim to grasp futures in both academic and practice-oriented settings. They can all be called 'futurists'. Due to a lack of transparency it is hard to distinguish these futurists as clearly defined profession. In theory everyone, also charlatans, can be part of the profession. The main objective of my paper is to shed light on the broad scope of practices adopted worldwide and how the futurist practices can be understood in their social contexts.

In this paper I will rely upon the insights gained by in depth interviews of 30 representative futurists from different parts of the world. The interviewees are founding fathers, icons and prizewinners, as well as promising newcomers that have already gained some reputation. Their knowledge production will be explored from the perspective of the sociology of professions. This theory offers analytical concepts to reflect upon practices of these futurists. The main themes of the interviews are professional histories of the interviewees, their definition of a futurist, their membership of professional communities and the context of their knowledge production. The interview method adopted is the social constructivist approach. This means that the data are generated by letting the futurists construct their own practices during the interview.

The paper will deliver a broader view on practices of futurists. The analysis will reveal the diversity of their practices and explain why this is the case. However, the paper will also make plausible why they can all be called futurists.