Imagine the Corset Futures

This is a world dominated by technology and data-driven solutions. Big Tech interfaces mediate every human action and interaction in order to predict personalised products and services that might be convenient to the consumer and also to monetise the valuable data to third parties. The global economies have been transformed by the Big Tech giants, who have used their multi-sided platforms to move across sectors, disrupt the incumbents, block access to market and control all price structures. They offer end-to-end health, mobility, financial, retail and other services to every consumer, giving them detailed knowledge about the wants and needs of almost every human on the planet. Almost all business is conducted and distributed via these platforms.

This is a world where the yesterday’s institutional structures are replaced by a new informal economy, driven not not only by lack of formal work opportunities and onerous rule-bound processes but also dynamism, versatility and constant innovation and entrepreneurship. The result is a networked jungle, constantly in flux – where every rule is disrupted, rewritten or simply broken. Freedom is the name of the game and survival requires access to trusted social networks of family and friends. Informal, small scale business operations find innovative ways to circumvent bureaucracy. Sourcing, production and selling takes place within trusted social networks, using labour-intensive methods that are cheaper than capital-intensive production. 

This is a barricaded world where globalization has receded. Economic and security concerns have led governments around the world to rewrite the social contract in return for greater authoritarianism. Technologies are used to monitor and control actions, interactions and even thoughts of citizens, either covertly or overtly. Global corporate structures have been largely been replaced by national networks, often fully or partially state-owned to retain control. There are simmering global tensions as nations compete for scarce resources and technological supremacy, but global governance has become largely irrelevant.

This is a world where ecological concerns, expanding debt and an ageing population combine to make gratuitous consumption less attractive and socially acceptable. People think longer-term, saving for their future and their children. As resource limitations become more visible, eradication of every form of waste becomes essential. The nature of the economy changes to one integrating natural ecology, social ecology, and industrial ecology. This shrinks the scale to a more local, open source footprint. Standardised, mass produced goods have been largely replaced by simpler, locally sourced and crafted goods and services. Production focuses on circularity and sustainable use of local resources, so recycling and upcycling are an integral part.