A critical realist image of the future Wendell Bell's contribution to the foundations of futures studies

Wendell Bell's contribution to the foundations of futures studies grows out of his concern that fashionable philosophies of the day could undermine the very idea of a respectable, viable futures studies discipline. As his concept of “image of the future” is an effort to counter the positivist intellectual constraints on futurology, so his support of “critical realism” is part of an effort to counter the equally questionable move towards “the nihilism and relativism of postmodernist post-positivism”. Both theoretically and philosophically, Bell aims to create and keep a balance, a middle ground between extremes, trying to stabilize the still volatile foundations of futures studies. His effort is one of a founder in the most robust sense of the term. In his endeavor, Bell went beyond the rhetoric of asserting the promise of a new discipline and advertising its merits. He invested into the less glamorous but crucial effort of building the epistemological and conceptual bases able to sustain an entire intellectual edifice.

► Wendell Bell had a crucial role in building the epistemological foundations of Futures Studies. ► His work offers an alternative to both positivist and postmodernist interpretations of the new field. ► Moreover, his “critical realism” has not only a foundational relevance but also an applied one.