In Search of Non-Linear Futures: Feminist Methodological-Analytical Strategies for Reading Against the Grain

Abstract

Feminist and queer thinkers are increasingly problematising linear time and developing other ways of theorising and exploring non-linear time and temporalities. In this article, we join such work as we formulate a set of methodological-analytical reading strategies that can assist us as scholars in writing up alternative futures from empirical data. We focus on young women whose ‘successful’ futures are typically represented as a linear trajectory where actions in the present ensure a gradual progression towards the desired future. However, linear time is not a neutral entity; on the contrary, it is both a performative and political force and, in this article, we argue that it is timely to c..