Notes on relativity in future studies

The author argues that the discipline of future studies is marked by great intellectual and cultural relativity and that recent attempts to force cross-cultural common denominators, within it, may turn out to be counter-productive. The French prospective is not futurism, forecasting or even the now popular ‘foresight’. It is an authentic concept of its own rooted in the French worldview. The same applies to other concepts stemming from various cultures. Each civilization has a view of the past and a view of the future which is conditioned by special circumstances and particular environments.