Woher kommen Erwartungen?: Die soziale Strukturierung imaginierter Zukünfte

Expectations play a crucial role in capitalist economies. Where do the expectations on which actors base their decisions come from? The paper approaches this question by discussing seven social factors that shape expectations: Institutions, social position, social networks, calculative tools, cultural structures, reflexivity, and protention. Following this discussion, the last part of the paper looks at the role of social power and the mass media in the diffusion of expectations.