Site of seminal futures methodologies, tools and writings by Professor Sohail Inayatullah & Dr Ivana Milojevic.
Metafuture is an educational think tank which explores futures-oriented issues. Our approach to futures thinking and practice (theories, methods, tools and processes) is based on the "Six Pillars" model which inquires into alternative and preferred futures and the worldviews and myths that underlie them.
Free material - published articles, book chapters, reports and theses - by Metafuture associated futures-oriented scholars. Search by author or topic.
Books and ebooks. Titles include: What Works: Case Studies in the Practice of Foresight (2015) and CLA 2.0: Transformative Research in Theory and Practice (2015).
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By Sohail Inayatullah
Proutist Bloc India Publications, New Delhi, 2017
Created in the late 1950s by the Indian philosopher, mystic, and social activist P.R. Sarkar, Prout or the Progressive Utilization Theory is not only a theory of social change and transformed leadership, but an alternative political economy; an emergent alternative to capitalism, a vision and comprehensive model of a new future for humanity and the planet.
Decades ahead of its time, Prout is increasingly becoming relevant today. It is a pivotal theory not just to understand the world but to change it.
Prout has five crucial pillars: (1) spiritual practice, (2), neo-humanism, (3) the social cycle, (4) governance, and (5) the socio-economic system.
The first pillar, spiritual practice, acknowledges that there is an inner dimension to the external world – meditation and other similar practices are central to a successful Proutist society.
The second pillar, Neo-humanism, is both equal opportunity legislation and inner mindfulness – an ethics that expands our identity from ego to family to territory to religion to society to humanism and eventually to all living beings.
The third pillar is the social cycle. Prout provides a theory of macrohistory and future. While history has been cyclical, we are not doomed to repeat the past. Through ethical and transparent leadership, the cycle can become progressive, creating a new spiral future.
The fourth pillar is governance. Prout works in a world governance structure. It imagines a federalist world system and seeks to create “glocal” movements that challenge the current world economy.
The fifth is the socio-economic system. Prout challenges the current corporatist model, focusing instead on the cooperative model.
However, this book is not focused on explaining Prout; rather, it imagines a future where Prout is in ‘power’. It uses Prout to reframe the issues of the time so that innovative solutions can be created. Chapters articulate Prout policy on topics such as:
We are in the midst of the postmodern, the era of multiplicity. Working with innovative movements all over the world, Prout provides the epistemology, methodology, and vision for a different future, and, thereby, present.
Length: 260 pages
Purchase: PDF
Professor Sohail Inayatullah /sə'heɪl ɪnaɪʌ'tʊla/, a political scientist, is Professor at Tamkang University, Taipei (Graduate Institute of Futures Studies); Associate, Mt. Eliza Executive Education, Melbourne Business School, and Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Faculty of Social Sciences and the Arts). In 2015, Professor Inayatullah was awarded the first UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies. In 2010, he was awarded the Laurel award for all-time best futurist by the Shaping Tomorrow Foresight Network. In March 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. He received his doctorate from the University of Hawaii in 1990. Inayatullah has lived in Islamabad, Pakistan; Bloomington, Indiana; Flushing, New York; Geneva, Switzerland; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Honolulu, Hawaii; and currently resides in Mooloolaba, Australia.
Dr Ivana Milojević /'ivana 'milɔɪevitʃ/ is a researcher, writer and educator with a trans-disciplinary professional background in sociology, education, gender, peace and futures studies. Since the early 1990s, she has delivered speeches and facilitated workshops for governmental institutions, international associations, and non-governmental organizations.
Born in the former-Yugoslavia, she is a dual Australian and Serbian citizen who currently (2016-2017) resides in Brunei Darussalam, where she coordinates the Brunei Futures Initiative at the Centre for Strategic & Policy Studies – a government funded think-tank. Prior to that, she has been Visiting Professor at the Center for Gender Studies, University of Novi Sad, Serbia (2008-2017), Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan (2015) and an Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Arts and Business, University of the Sunshine Coast (2009-2016). She obtained her PhD in Education from the University of Queensland, Australia in 2003.
