The Futurist Fieldguide is the second volume of the Future Fabulators publication, a workbook or a manual for people interested in experimenting with futures techniques in practice. The first volume will be the second edition of Futurish, designed to provide context and theoretical background for the Fieldguide.
the Fieldguide (working title) is a collection of texts, guides, warnings, and manifesto-like rabble rousing collated into a small book (ideally pocket sized around A6~A5).
We'd like the guide to present a range of approaches to thinking about the future, dealing with uncertainty and in particular experiential methods and those able to be used in unpredictable settings. In view of this, our preference is for texts of a pragmatic bent, with a focus on instructional, DIY techniques, while at the same time delineating some of the contexts surrounding these approaches where appropriate.
One of the central concerns is how and why 'futures' can provide useful methods for increasing agency, improving understanding of complex issues, or becoming more human. When we talk about 'futures' are we dealing with scrying and divination or are such methods more in line with invocation? Summoning futures into the present from an unknowable beyond?
Contributions could take several forms: describing experiential techniques, distributed online methods, distillations of complex procedures, step-by-step guides, framing documents, and suggestions for further developments. In general, practical elucidation rather than rhetorical digression. More like a manual than a shopping catalogue. Shorter texts are preferred over longer texts (however longer contextual pieces could be considered for the 2nd edition of 'Futurish')
Consider clarifying where you're coming from and what a reader/user can expect from following/adapting the approaches you're describing. What do they require – the background traditions, presuppositions, prerequisites to prepare prospective futurists? Are the the techniques described at an introductory or advanced level? What preoccupations and concerns drive someone to become personally concerned about this business?
Some potental examples and/or starting points:
Authors retain copyright jointly with FoAM. The publication will be distributed under the following Creative Commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
If you do not agree with your materials being published under this license, please let us know.
(see also internal/process notes at https://repo.fo.am/foam/futurist-fieldguide/ )