Society, consciousness and change—An inquiry into Pentti Malaska's futures thinking

Abstract

The article sets out to expose futurist Pentti Malaska (1934–2012) as a social thinker.22Professor Pentti Malaska was the founder of Finland Futures Research Centre at Turku School of Economics, where he served as professor between 1966 and 1997. He acted as the president of World Futures Studies Federation 1994–1997 and member of Club of Rome from 1972. His theory on social evolution where societies have developed from agricultural to industrial, and the currently emerging post-industrial service society, is explained. His idea of threefold society is discussed where each sector (culture, social life, economic life) is understood as domains of distinct principles. We also take a deep look into his list of key societal challenges. We end up by reflecting on Malaska's idea of future consciousness, in other words, our chance to penetrate into the future with our thinking.