Introduction: imagining the future as a culture of defeat – Eastern and Central European imagined futures since 1945
Introduction: imagining the future as a culture of defeat – Eastern and Central European imagined futures since 1945

Summary/Abstract: Studying changing perceptions of the future belongs to the well-known field of cultural history. Scholarly works dealing with the 20th century concentrate mainly on the history of science fiction, expert knowledge (future studies), and the history of future forecasting in popular culture (technology, lifestyle, work). By presenting this thematic issue, we aim to connect the changing perception of modern radical concepts of the future with the concept of the “culture of defeat” developed by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, applied to two Eastern and Central European post-1945 principal events, the collapse of Nazism, and the crisis/ collapse of communism.

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