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Short abstract

Participation promises access to alternative futures. Drawing on discussions of major innovations, we show that citizens often seek to reconfigure rather than replace hegemonic socio-technical arrangements. Alternativity appears as relational and constrained, revealing "imaginative exclusion zones".

Long abstract

A core premise of STS is that “it could be otherwise”. Participatory formats are often viewed as spaces in which counter-hegemonic alternatives may emerge. Similarly, the availability of tangible alternatives is a central tenet of democratic life. Yet, how alternative are the futures assembled in participatory settings?

Drawing on eight card-based citizens' discussion groups conducted in Austria within the ERC Advanced Grant Innovation Residues (GA:101054580), this paper examines how citizens relate three major fields of innovation that centrally shape societies to their problematic residues (notably microplastics, nuclear waste, and digital residues), and to what degree citizens articulate futures that challenge or disrupt current socio-technical arrangements.

Rather than assuming alternativity in participatory contexts, we explore how alternatives feature in citizens’ discussions. We argue that - given the hegemony of innovation-driven societies - citizens draw on futuring practices that more often seek to reconfigure than replace existing systems. While some proposals gesture towards systemic transformation, others reproduce familiar imaginaries. This raises key questions: To what extent can futures that recycle historical formations or rely on one-world world visions (Law 2015) be described as counter-hegemonic alternatives? When and at what scale do suggested changes qualify as alternatives – for citizens and for us, as researchers? And to what degree can we identify "imaginative exclusion zones" (Felt 2025) that tacitly delimit the spectrum of possible futures?

Examining how citizens connect innovations to their residues provides insights into their visions of politico-economic arrangements, innovation-induced material configurations, modes of governance, and connected socio-environmental relations.