The turn to the imagination: transformation, politics and limits

We are currently witnessing what we refer to in this Critical Exchange as ‘a turn to the imagination’. Across the academy and beyond, the concept of ‘imaginaries’is increasingly used to examine how the imagination is provoked, harnessed and dispersed to encourage or inhibit social, political, economic, technological and cultural transformation. Highlighting the need for critical reflection not only on the possibilities but also the limits of this turn, we explore the role of the imagination and imaginaries in contemporary political theory, analysis and practice. The contributions discuss the mutation of dominant far-right imaginaries; the promise of anti-colonial, postgrowth, ecosocialist, and ecofeminist imaginaries; and the potential for new political means, such as theatre, to expand our imagination and create imaginaries that ‘stick’. The contributions do not offer a single framework for understanding and engaging with the turn to the imagination, but rather provide possible starting points for a diverse, critical and political account of this ‘turn’ and its implications.