Navigating technological change : Future imaginaries and everyday practices in world politics
(2026) In Cooperation and Conflict- Abstract
- During the last decade or so, most aspects of world politics have become saturated with digital-technological devices and platforms such as smartphones and social media. Yet, practice-oriented International Relations (IR) scholarship has not adequately accounted for the profound impact of this technological transformation on how world politics is ‘done’ within, across and beyond the traditional institutional settings of global political affairs. This paper addresses this gap by integrating the concept of ‘sociotechnical imaginaries’ from Science and Technology Studies (STS) into the study of practices and world politics. Sociotechnical imaginaries encapsulate how technology intersects with society in and through collective visions of the... (More)
- During the last decade or so, most aspects of world politics have become saturated with digital-technological devices and platforms such as smartphones and social media. Yet, practice-oriented International Relations (IR) scholarship has not adequately accounted for the profound impact of this technological transformation on how world politics is ‘done’ within, across and beyond the traditional institutional settings of global political affairs. This paper addresses this gap by integrating the concept of ‘sociotechnical imaginaries’ from Science and Technology Studies (STS) into the study of practices and world politics. Sociotechnical imaginaries encapsulate how technology intersects with society in and through collective visions of the future. Drawing on interviews with international communication professionals in Western European capitals, from across diplomacy and humanitarianism, we show how an attention to ‘future imaginaries’ sheds new light on how the emergence of new technologies (re)shape practitioners’ view of their role and agency in world politics. Concretely, we find that, despite their different circumstances, these professionals exhibit similar patterns of adaptations and evolving practices influenced by collectively perceived uncertainties and promises associated with a future saturated by social media and algorithms. The article thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the everyday interplay between technologies and practitioners by emphasising the role of ‘future imaginaries’ in shaping world politics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/184a939a-09f8-47c5-b025-19ee2e0aa8fe
- author
- Møller Ølgaard, Daniel and Hedling, Elsa LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-01-10
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- digital technology, diplomacy, humanitarianism, science and techology studies
- in
- Cooperation and Conflict
- pages
- 23 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- ISSN
- 0010-8367
- DOI
- 10.1177/00108367251397780
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 184a939a-09f8-47c5-b025-19ee2e0aa8fe
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-10 16:37:27
- date last changed
- 2026-01-15 17:20:41
@article{184a939a-09f8-47c5-b025-19ee2e0aa8fe,
abstract = {{During the last decade or so, most aspects of world politics have become saturated with digital-technological devices and platforms such as smartphones and social media. Yet, practice-oriented International Relations (IR) scholarship has not adequately accounted for the profound impact of this technological transformation on how world politics is ‘done’ within, across and beyond the traditional institutional settings of global political affairs. This paper addresses this gap by integrating the concept of ‘sociotechnical imaginaries’ from Science and Technology Studies (STS) into the study of practices and world politics. Sociotechnical imaginaries encapsulate how technology intersects with society in and through collective visions of the future. Drawing on interviews with international communication professionals in Western European capitals, from across diplomacy and humanitarianism, we show how an attention to ‘future imaginaries’ sheds new light on how the emergence of new technologies (re)shape practitioners’ view of their role and agency in world politics. Concretely, we find that, despite their different circumstances, these professionals exhibit similar patterns of adaptations and evolving practices influenced by collectively perceived uncertainties and promises associated with a future saturated by social media and algorithms. The article thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the everyday interplay between technologies and practitioners by emphasising the role of ‘future imaginaries’ in shaping world politics.}},
author = {{Møller Ølgaard, Daniel and Hedling, Elsa}},
issn = {{0010-8367}},
keywords = {{digital technology; diplomacy; humanitarianism; science and techology studies}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Cooperation and Conflict}},
title = {{Navigating technological change : Future imaginaries and everyday practices in world politics}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00108367251397780}},
doi = {{10.1177/00108367251397780}},
year = {{2026}},
}