Thinking and speculating about the future has always been a part of human history, but exploring the futures in a systematic and scientific way is a recent development. What is known variously as futures studies, foresight or futures only emerged during the second half of the twentieth century. The study of the future, is not just about ‘predicting’ or forecasting. It is also about appreciating the potentials and possibilities, risks and threats, lurking over the horizon, as well an influencing and shaping futures. This book provides the background to the evolution of futures studies, explores the contested field, and shows how knowledge of the future is acquired and put into practice. In outlining some basic methods of futures studies, it also reveals how futures can be both: a tool for empowerment as well as an instrument of colonisation. In the uncertain, tempestuous and bewildering world of twenty-first century, futures studies has become an indispensable discourse.