Criticizing Futures Studies in Social Sciences (With Emphasis on Iran)

The paper aimed at reviewing the approach, method, and field of futures studies in social sciences. To do this, it used two different approaches: critical public sociology and methodological critique that raised issues of methodology and social science philosophy focused on the critical realism approach. Therefore, two questions arose: firstly, could futures studies as a scientific field produce valid science? Secondly, what critique does public sociology provide for futures studies? Research findings revealed that futures studies which is the systematic studies of open and macro systems, complex structures, and intentional and volunteer actors, has low efficiency.  They also demonstrate that despite the explicit claim of futures studies and its scholars for constructing a better and more egalitarian world, they have always been of service to the state and market that have created the current situation.