The communicative construction of alternative visions of the future and contemporary practices in “the time after”

How do visions of the future shape social change — and how do they affect collective identities in times of multiple crises? This dissertation examines competing visions for a time after a possible societal collapse and analyzes how different actors — from social movements to state institutions — use future scenarios to create orientation, capacity for action, and community. In doing so, the work shows how powerful and at the same time fragile visions of the future are negotiated in digital public spheres and what contribution they make to social fragmentation or stabilization.

Media change and long-term transformation processes can be analyzed not only reconstructively and retrospectively, but also with reference to the future and its shaping. The aim of the dissertation is therefore to examine the role of different visions of the future in the context of social and media transformation processes and to understand how these enable orientation and the ability to act in times of crises. Social and media transformation processes are currently encountering multiple crises and growing uncertainties, as a result of which the world is perceived as increasingly complex and difficult to influence. The idea of the future — both individual and collective — is closely linked to emotions such as hope and nostalgia, fear or threat; at the same time, it offers orientation and security by pointing out possibilities for action and practices in the present that can promote the realization of desired futures or ward off negative visions. As an effective mobilization tool, visions of the future and the associated legitimations of who or what is considered groundbreaking are not only contested, but also increasingly fragile. Dwindling trust in democratic institutions and epistemic authorities, as well as the increasing fragmentation of interpretive power in digital public spheres, make it difficult to develop a common, hegemonic imagination of society’s future.

Against this backdrop, the dissertation examines competing visions of the future for a possible time after the collapse of the current social order, known as “Day Zero,” and strategies for preventing, accelerating, or preparing for its arrival. Building on the analysis of (online) communication by alternative activist groups — such as the far right, left-wing resistance movements, or prepper movements — as well as state actors (such as the military), the thesis asks: Which scenarios for the future require which actions, by whom, in the present? What visions underlie them, and how are they legitimized? What role does (online) communication play in producing and stabilizing these visions? How does it function as a social mechanism through which collective belonging and community are created, experienced, and mobilized? The work thus contributes to our understanding of current processes of social fragmentation by revealing how competing visions of the future contribute to the formation, stabilization, or questioning of collective identities and current practice.