Does futurology have a future in India?

Abstract

A population growth rate of around 2 per cent per annum being the one certainty of India's future, predictions have varied between Malthusian nightmares and blissful utopias. The methods used for arriving at these conclusions have been just as varied in their rigour and data base. One sustained effort aspiring to a degree of seriousness has been the Second India Studies. In this article, Sambrani and Dholakia examine the studies individually and as a whole for their analytical utility and policy prescriptions. They also look into the institutional setting of the country, particularly the roles and the biases of the elites and their influence on decision-making. This leads them to posit certain propositions regarding the place and utility of futurological studies in developing societies