Mohsen Taheri Demneh; Ali Zakeri
Volume 19, Issue 47 , June 2020, , Pages 31-52
Abstract
Future is intrinsically not predictable, nonetheless investigation of people’s subjectivity in relation to future is a viable research agenda. It can be argued that our subjective perception of individual and social futures lays on the foundations for our decisions. Therefore, systematic analysis ...
Read More
Future is intrinsically not predictable, nonetheless investigation of people’s subjectivity in relation to future is a viable research agenda. It can be argued that our subjective perception of individual and social futures lays on the foundations for our decisions. Therefore, systematic analysis of the images of future, particularly those of the youth as the major owners of futures, is of paramount significance. This article is a fundamental research with a qualitative approach which tries to explore the images of the future among the educated youth. The data was collected through a series of semi-structured interviews and then analyzed using discourse analysis and causal layered analysis. The research findings indicated that the images can be thematically categorized into seven groups: 1. Historical monuments of the past; 2. The weight of the present time; 3. The road taken by the descendants; 4. Conjectures about the future; 5. The shadow of the society; 6. Regrets, inabilities and shortages; 7. Understanding the future.
In order to truly decipher their subjectivity, causal layered analysis was used to extract and re-interpret the major and minor themes. The final results showed that the youth image of the future is a complex and multidimensional concept, and requires effective planning and deep cultural work to influence it.