The RTG considers the interplay of practices of ‘stabilisation’ and ‘repair’ as indicators of ‘technologies of anticipation’ – that is, socio-material orderings and temporal orientations that have the capacity to define entire domains of knowledge, forms of social organisation, or even societies as a whole. Tied to a politics of temporality and affect, technologies of anticipation not only aim to identify and imagine future trajectories but also to arrange or accommodate what is yet to come. The RTG, therefore, examines how such technologies are organised, materialised, mobilised, and – equally important – how they are criticised and contested. It further attends to the power asymmetries and operational tensions involved in the enactment of anticipatory practices to inquire what forms of life are to be protected, enhanced, or saved (and which are excluded, marginalised, or destroyed).

Building on recent scholarship in STS, the RTG seeks both to inform societal debates with robust research-driven knowledge and to contribute to contemporary scientific discussions on future-making in sociology, cultural anthropology, human geography, and beyond. The RTG strengthens and extends existing forms of cooperation such as the STS Master’s Programme ‘Economies, Governance, Life’, and The Lab for Studies in Science and Technology (LaSST) at Goethe University Frankfurt. Given the distinctive profile of the interdisciplinary faculty and the innovative study programme, the RTG will prepare early career researchers for a wide range of professional careers in the academic field and beyond.