Structural irresponsibility: Politics of an imperfect future

We live in a social world whose pace is accelerating. While the focus of most aspects of our intensified social life is narrowing down to the present, the futures we create on a daily basis cast ever-longer shadows. In this situation a chasm is opening up between the technological production of increasingly expanding futures and a horizon of political concern, action and predictive capacity that is getting ever shorter. This drifting apart of knowledge and practice has impacts for the possibility of achieving a politics sensitive to the long-term future. The chapter explores the resulting difficulties and considers potential openings for change.