Contrastingly, social scientists, humanities and design research theories from the Global South and North, and treat futures as emergent, possible, plural, situated, contingent and not necessarily causal or linear. To embrace the conditions and experiences of futures aligned with this theoretical perspective a series of concepts have been proposed and tested. These include (but are not limited to): uncertainty, trust, hope, anxiety, friction, breakage, repair and aspiration, desirability and utopia. This framework can be used to ask how emerging technologies might be reshaped by the agency of people who use them in society and what this implies for realistic and plausible community futures; or how ethical futures might be shaped when plural preferred futures exist in society, for example in the present dialogue relating to just transitions to net zero-carbon emissions. Often these challenges cannot be solved by linear theories of futures, where technology is thought to simply impact on society or where building adaptive systems is assumed to lead to resilient societies.

Bringing social-science theories and concepts to bear on technical and system solutions can improve our ability to develop plausible, realistic and ethical solutions and achieve goals of inclusive and just futures.