Futures Thoughts with Sofia Ulver

Media Evolution is a community-owned, non-profit platform for co-creation, knowledge sharing, and futures-thinking in Malmö, Sweden.

Media Evolution

Cruel Futures, Dubaian Dreams and Permanent Arrival: Imaginaries of the Future among Marginalised Youth in Sweden

K3 Studio, Niagara, Malmö University

Futures thoughts with Sofia Ulver What happens to our dreams of the future when the old promises no longer grip us?For generations, the American Dream promised a better life through hard work and perseverance, while the European welfare state offered its own promise of security, social mobility and gradual progress. Drawing on research among young people in marginalised neighbourhoods in Sweden, this talk explores a vivid (albeit attacked) Dubaian Dream: a growing fascination with an imagined “Dubai” – a world of wealth, safety, spectacle and seemingly limitless possibility, encountered through social media, popular culture and everyday life. I suggest that while the older dreams imagined success as a journey through time, the Dubaian Dream increasingly imagines it as a movement through space. You just have to arrive. But, what happens when digital platforms allow us to inhabit imagined futures long before we ever get there? When future has already arrived – just not here, and not for everyone? SpeakerSofia Ulver is a researcher, frequent public speaker and cultural writer on societal shifts and how markets and consumer culture shape the way we dream and live. Currently, she explores topics such as the conflict market, vulnerable youth, violent consumer culture(s), algorithmic culture, political inertia, extremist fantasies, and futures. Sofia is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Lund University School of Economics and Management and has published widely in international academic journals as well as in national press. ContextThis Futures Thoughts lecture is hosted by Malmö Research Centre for Imagining and Co-Creating Futures (ICF) and Media Evolution. The event is also part of Media Evolution's <a href="https://www.mediaevolution.se/engage/Foresight-and-Futures" title="https://www.mediaevolution.se/engage/Foresight-and-Futures" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Foresight and Futures lecture series.</a>

Futures Thoughts with Sofia Ulver

More events from Media Evolution

Follow organizers to get events picked for you

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Hamnen and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.

Futures Thoughts with Sofia Ulver

More events from Media Evolution

Follow organizers to get events picked for you

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Hamnen and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.