Increasingly, individuals speak of “peace time” versus “war time,” or “the recent past” and the “immediate future.” Economically, politically, and technologically, we are experiencing change as never before. Explicitly tied to difference, change is most easily measured in terms of chronological time, comparing a “before” to an established “after.” Speculation on change entails projection, prognosis and risk, and reflects perhaps most clearly the fluid, divergent and simultaneous time space continuum of our contemporary existence.

The Vera List Center’s goal with the theme of change is to contribute to a multi-disciplinary conversation about being in a state of change, in a continuous projection into the future. The programs invariably attempt to define President Obama’s “change we can believe in,” building on the previous program year’s exploration of democracy as an eternally deferred state. The “Speculating on Change” cycle addresses topics as diverse as momentum and political movement; institutional infrastructures and collapse; speculative urbanism and design; humor; performance; credit and risk; the moment of environmental crisis; and the global economy.
Branding Democracy