Future Conversations – A Topical Exchange

The following conversations stem from a 2018 workshop in Karlsruhe on “Access to the Future – Towards a Hermeneutic Perspective on Socio-Technical Change.” It was dedicated to the epistemological and normative presuppositions and implications of the idea of a hermeneutic TA and places it in the context of philosophical hermeneutics, the phenomenology of time, critical STS, as well as institutional frameworks and policies. Hermeneutic TA has been a starting point for venturing on new pathways and seeing previous discussions from a new angle. Hence, far from being merely a recapitulation of the workshop, this chapter offers testimony for an enacted practice of initiating a wide-ranging debate which is still ongoing. The editors have taken some liberty to highlight key talking points and streamline the discussion for improved readability.