Kasper Hedegård Schiølin

Project title

Imaginaries of ‘Existential Risks’: Making, Governing, and Contesting Humanity’s Future

What is your project about?

My project maps the increasing number of actors involved in developing and using the concept of 'Existential risks' to generate imaginaries of the end of humanity. Through fieldwork in both the USA and Europe, and drawing on the research field, Science, Technology, and Society (STS), the project examines the production, institutionalization, and reception of the unique knowledge, that underwrites such imaginaries. On this basis, the project develops analytical tools to create a critical understanding of where and how futures are created and determined, including the (new) standards and criteria for knowledge upon which these crucial choices rely.

How did you become interested in your particular field of research?

Since my time as a Ph.D. student, I have been deeply engaged in the research field of Science, Technology, and Society (STS), both at Aarhus University and during four years as a research fellow at Harvard University. The field explores how knowledge and technology are produced and how science and technology are received in society. I have been particularly interested in the relationship between politics and science and technology, especially the tech-industry's influence on how we govern and organize society, as well as society's influence on technological development (in STS, we call this mutual influence "co-production"). Lately, I have researched how artificial intelligence (AI) has moved to the top of political agendas in both national and international politics, often being designated as an 'Existential risk.' This has led me to the focus on my Sapere Aude project, which, in accordance with STS, investigates the knowledge underwriting the identification of 'Existential risks' and, equally, how 'Existential risks' have become the subject of politics in major international organizations, such as the UN and OECD, as well as in grassroots movements.

What are the scientific challenges and perspectives in your project?

As my project explores a relatively new phenomenon, namely 'Existential risks,' there is virtually no existing research to build upon. In the project, we will, therefore, develop an analytical framework to analyze 'Existential risks.' However, it is far from new that people and societies have formed ideas about the end of humanity or the earth. In theology, these are studied under the field of eschatology (the study of end times) and scientific theories on, for example, entropy and sociological concepts of risks also deal with that theme. In the project, we will conduct a literature review that brings insights from these different disciplines together to qualify the understanding of 'Existential risks,' which could be considered a contemporary version of eschatology.

What is your estimate of the impact, which your project may have to society in the long term?

I hope that my project can help close a knowledge gap on 'Existential risks.' As the concept is increasingly taken up by powerful political organizations and movements, it is important to understand the expertise and the epistemological standards that guarantee the identification of 'Existential risks' as well as the decisions made based on them. In a broader perspective, I expect that the project can contribute – including through a podcast production – to creating public debate about who has the right and power to decide the future. Therefore, I hope the project will contribute to democratizing, reclaiming, and disseminating 'future-making' across social groups and generations with the aim of making the future a more collective concern.

Which impact do you expect the Sapere Aude programme will have on your career as a researcher?

It is obviously a great honor to receive a Sapere Aude: DFF Starting Grant. As a researcher, one can sometimes doubt whether anyone other than oneself finds one’s research interesting. However, receiving this grant, through several rounds of reviews and an interview, I am confirmed that researchers from a broad range of scientific fields consider my research relevant and important, and thus worth supporting. I also expect that through the Sapere Aude program, I will build research management skills and expand my international network and thus be better equipped to secure international grants.

Background and personal life

When I am not engaged in academic work, I love spending time with my two daughters, Lærke and Siri, aged 16 and 11, respectively. I have also always been deeply interested in music, particularly electronic music and techno, which I actively contribute to as a dancer and DJ, as well as co-organizer of club nights at Institute for X at Godsbanen in Aarhus. The rave culture is in many ways an experimental space for alternative imaginaries of the future; the way we organize ourselves, come together, and express ourselves. In that sense, I guess,my interest is somewhat related to my project!