The future of communication and media studies: we can drop our tools

This article focuses on the future of communication and media studies in South Africa. As such, it appeals to fragments of pasts and presents. It makes specific reference to two recent projects in the now popular work of scenario building. These two projects are South Africa scenarios 2025: the future we chose? and The Dinokeng scenarios. In the light of overviews of the findings of these two projects, a call is made to establish cultures and therefore practices that enable questioning. In the face of our development challenges, the simple point is that we contribute beyond the ken of any individual when we invest time, resources, hopes and expectations in inquiry. The future of communication and media studies is in our hands. In this sense it is important to offer the obvious answer which says our humanist practice can overcome forms of constraint by which 'blindness' is prioritised. This article, then, affirms the view that the grace of the present is of opportunities to change the world by living it.