Speculative Fiction/Speculative Finance: Fighting for the Future

Project Information

SF-SF

Grant agreement ID: 101067413

DOI

10.3030/101067413

Project closed

EC signature date 29 August 2022

Start date 1 November 2022

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 214 934,40

Coordinated by

ROSKILDE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SF-SF (Speculative Fiction/Speculative Finance: Fighting for the Future)

Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2025-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The SF-SF: Fighting for the Future fellowship explored how speculative fiction intersects with financial and technological systems, examining the ways in which imagined futures shape real-world socio-technical and economic processes. Modern societies face unprecedented challenges from the rapid integration of digital technologies, algorithmic finance, and emerging artificial intelligence systems. These developments raise urgent questions about governance, ethics, inequality, and societal resilience—problems that cannot be fully understood through traditional disciplinary lenses.

This project addressed these challenges by combining social sciences, humanities, and narrative analysis. Using speculative fiction as both a research lens and a method, the project traced how cultural imaginaries of finance and technology influence policy, corporate decision-making, and public perceptions. By integrating qualitative research with theoretical analysis, the fellowship aimed to produce knowledge that is both academically rigorous and socially relevant.

The main objectives were:

To develop a robust interdisciplinary framework linking speculative fiction, finance, and socio-technical systems.

To generate research outputs that advance understanding of how elites in technology and finance shape global economic and social structures.

To translate scholarly insights into public debate, media engagement, and policy-relevant knowledge.

To mentor the next generation of researchers and foster international academic collaboration.

The project pathway to impact combined high-level academic dissemination with broad societal engagement. Research outputs—including journal articles, a monograph, and public essays—were complemented by workshops, international talks, and media appearances, ensuring that findings reached both scholarly and non-academic audiences. By making research openly accessible and engaging with public and policy actors, the fellowship maximized its potential impact on debates about technology, finance, and society.

The project’s expected impacts are significant at multiple levels:

Academic impact: advancing interdisciplinary approaches in social sciences and humanities, developing new methods to study socio-technical futures, and strengthening the integration of narrative analysis into political and economic research.

Societal impact: improving public understanding of complex financial and technological systems, informing debates on responsible technology governance, and contributing to democratic decision-making processes.

Strategic impact: supporting policymakers, NGOs, and civil society in navigating socio-technical transformations, while promoting open science and international collaboration.

Overall, this fellowship demonstrates the value of integrating social sciences and humanities into research on pressing contemporary challenges, using imaginative inquiry to illuminate the connections between culture, finance, and technology and to inform socially responsible futures.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Over the 36-month SF-SF: Fighting for the Future fellowship, the project carried out extensive research at the intersection of speculative fiction, technology, and finance, producing both conceptual and empirical advancements.

Research Activities:

Conducted qualitative and narrative analyses of speculative literature, film, and digital media to trace how cultural imaginaries shape financial and technological systems.

Gathered and analyzed primary and secondary data on the strategies and practices of technology and finance elites, public documents, and policy reports.

Developed interdisciplinary methodologies combining social theory, political sociology, and media studies to examine socio-technical imaginaries and their material consequences.

Organized and led research workshops and international collaboration sessions to refine frameworks, test theoretical models, and integrate feedback from peers and external experts.

Main Scientific Achievements:

Interdisciplinary Theoretical Framework: Established a novel framework linking speculative fiction, social theory, and financial systems, demonstrating how imagined futures influence real-world socio-technical decision-making.

Publications and Knowledge Outputs: Produced a strong body of peer-reviewed research in journals including Critical Studies on Security, Urban Studies, boundary 2, and Distinktion. Three additional articles are forthcoming in International Political Sociology, Science as Culture, and Global Studies Quarterly. Open access versions are shared via the Roskilde University repository.

Monograph: Developed a book manuscript (Fictional Worlds and Financial Realities in Speculative Literature and Film) synthesizing the theoretical and empirical findings of the project.

Global Academic Engagement: Delivered invited presentations at UCL, Uppsala University, the University of Copenhagen, University of Essex, and CBS, fostering scholarly dialogue and feedback for refining research outputs.

Mentorship and Capacity Building: Supervised Bachelor’s and Master’s students, integrating them into research activities and building a collaborative team that contributed to data collection, analysis, and conceptual development.

Methodological Innovation: Advanced methods for studying socio-technical imaginaries by combining narrative analysis with traditional qualitative approaches, providing a replicable approach for interdisciplinary research in social sciences and humanities.

Empirical Insights: Mapped concrete practices of technology and finance actors, showing how speculative and cultural narratives shape investment decisions, policy recommendations, and emerging technologies.

These achievements collectively demonstrate the project’s contribution to advancing knowledge in social sciences and humanities, particularly in understanding the socio-technical dynamics of finance and technology. The project not only produced high-quality research outputs but also created new interdisciplinary tools and frameworks with potential for future application in academia and policy-relevant contexts.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The SF-SF: Fighting for the Future fellowship produced results that significantly advance knowledge at the intersection of social sciences, humanities, and technology studies. The project developed novel theoretical, methodological, and empirical insights into how speculative fiction shapes real-world financial and technological systems, providing a framework that did not previously exist in the academic literature.

Key Results:

Interdisciplinary Framework: Established a conceptual model linking speculative narratives, socio-technical imaginaries, and the decision-making practices of technology and finance actors. This framework enables researchers and policymakers to anticipate the cultural and social factors influencing emerging technologies and financial systems.

Methodological Innovation: Advanced research methods that integrate narrative analysis with qualitative social science techniques, allowing for rigorous study of the socio-technical impact of speculative media.

Empirical Insights: Documented the ways in which technology and finance elites use cultural narratives to shape policy, investment, and public perception, providing unique evidence of the interplay between imagination and material decision-making.

Academic Outputs: Produced a robust portfolio of publications, including a forthcoming monograph (Fictional Worlds and Financial Realities in Speculative Literature and Film) and multiple journal articles, contributing high-quality, open-access knowledge to global scholarship.

Potential Impacts and Future Uptake:

Academic Impact: Provides new tools and approaches for interdisciplinary research in social sciences and humanities, particularly for studying the intersection of culture, technology, and finance.

Societal Impact: Enhances public understanding of complex technological and financial systems, informing debates on governance, ethics, and responsible innovation.

Policy and Strategic Impact: Offers evidence-based insights to policymakers, NGOs, and civil society actors on the influence of socio-technical imaginaries in shaping economic and technological futures.

Future Research and Exploitation Needs: Continued research could explore cross-cultural differences in speculative imaginaries, demonstrate applications of the framework in policy and financial forecasting, and integrate findings with digital tools or interactive platforms. Open access dissemination and international collaborations are essential for maximizing uptake.

Overall, the project’s outputs go beyond the current state of the art by providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary understanding of how speculative narratives actively shape the material world. These results lay the foundation for future research, public engagement, and policy applications, ensuring that the insights generated have lasting impact on both academic and societal levels.