Techno Futurist, sustained inequalities and Eco-utopia: Speculative imaginaries of Business Education in 2050

Abstract

The legitimacy of business education and its impact on society have been debated in the context of the economic and climate crises, with curricula, learning spaces and pedagogy being the main targets of criticism. Somehow, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased that pressure and added social inequalities to the debate. Thus, this paper proposes an exercise of imagining what management education and society will be like in 2050. Using speculative imagination, we narrate three imaginaries - Techno Futurist, Sustained Inequalities and Eco-utopia - built upon the perspective of the students of a sustainability programme at an elite Brazilian business school. Throughout the construction of the imaginaries' narratives, we found dilemmas and contradictions that alert us that there is no clear path to an emancipatory future and that, unfortunately, the tendency is to reproduce neoliberal ideology and managerialism. Furthermore, the lack of diversity of teachers and students, a direct consequence of business schools’ admission and funding, can hinder new imaginaries. We conclude by inviting business schools to include imagination as a critical exercise for students, so that they can organise outside of “business as usual”, open up alternative futures, and cope with the uncertainties that surround us.