Abstract

This chapter examines how groups imagine their future. We present our sociocultural model of imagination and its three dimensions, before building on it to account for how collectives imagine the future. On this basis, we argue that imagination about the future is a central steering mechanism of individual and collective behaviours, and that it is often political because of its significance for groups. Accordingly, we introduce a new dimension for thinking about collective imagination of the future—the degree of centralization of imagining. Based on two examples, we suggest that a sociocultural psychology of collective imagination of the future should document instances of collective imagining, their developmental trajectories, and the social and political forces that hinder and promote particular imaginings.