Abstract
This chapter explores the conceptual links between imagination and prefiguration. It argues that how and what societies imagine defines the horizon of what seems possible, and thus bears real consequences for our collective ability to act in the present. In this sense, imagination is an essential element of prefiguration and extends much further than the realm of society. The chapter contends that a prefigurative, radical imagination drives speculative capital and fictional expectations as they work tirelessly to produce future states that orientate economic, social and cultural values. In today’s financialized economies, capitalizing on imagined futures is capitalism’s own prefigurative act. Yet, while such dominant imaginings of the future serve to construct capitalism’s dystopias, the radical imagination also contains much-needed potential to create alternative visions. The chapter proposes a view of prefiguration that articulates the ‘radical’ in ‘imagination’ – a necessary step towards realizing the possibilities for articulating alternatives to today’s financialized economy and society.
Published Version
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