EVERYDAY LIFES CONSTRAINTS ON CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED-STATES

Citizenship is a topic of important concern to the futures community. This paper discusses five serious kinds of constraints that people in the United States must overcome to meet their citizenship responsibili ties. The constraints are: work (e.g. long hours, disruptive schedules , transfers); consumerism (e.g. time spent watching television, shoppi ng, and engaging in entertainment activities); lack of social capital (e.g. social networks not 'tight' enough to foster people working toge ther to address community issues); personal fears and anxieties (e.g. fear of reprisals from neighbors); and the built environment (e.g. lac k of meeting places, car- rather than people-oriented land uses). The charge to futurists is to image and work toward implementing futures t hat overcome these constraints. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.