Futures in action: Embodied or empty futures in youth activation workshops

In this article, I explore the orientations towards the future and their consequences for action in youth activation workshops. My analysis is drawn from a distinction between embodied and embedded futures, on one hand, and empty and decontextualised futures, on the other hand. The relations among past, present and future times are explored, as well as the embodied or disembodied nature of orientations towards the future. I analyse the embodied orientations towards the future through Bergson's work. The collisions between two different time frames and projections for the future are found to require adjustments on an individual level in the private sphere. The various orientations towards the future are valued differently, and the embodied orientation is overridden by an understanding of the future as empty or even cruel. Nonetheless, I interpret the future to be active and to produce effects. My analysis draws from empirical data based on an ethnography conducted in youth activation workshops in the metropolitan area of Helsinki, Finland.