Imagining pathways for global cooperation: an introduction

This introductory chapter presents a novel approach to studying evolving pathways for global cooperation that extends beyond multilateral institutions and emphasizes the formative role of imagination. Drawing on literature from memory, anticipation, and reflexivity studies, the authors develop a conceptual framework for analysing how a multiplicity of governmental and non-governmental actors envision and narrate future cooperative endeavours. Illustrations drawn from the Fridays for Futures movement undergird the ways in which imaginations shape processes of creating, challenging, and changing cooperation pathways. Engaging with cognate developments in the social sciences and humanities, the chapter sets an interdisciplinary research agenda that not only informs the chapters comprised in the edited volume but also opens up productive perspectives for future research.