Imagination research in anthropology examines how culturally grounded stories, routines, and collective aspirations shape what communities see as possible—and worth fighting for—amid climate disruption, political upheaval, and other future-defining crises Imagination research uses ethnographic fieldwork, participatory methods, and memory work to connect past experience to present desires and future planning. Researchers track how narratives shift over time while addressing ethical risks such as misrepresentation and extractive storytelling. What is imagination research in anthropology? Imagination, as a lens, names an anthropological approach that examines how cultural narratives and collective aspirations shape understandings of the future and catalyse social change within specific communities. Imagination research in anthropology extends conventional fieldwork by tracing how people connect past experiences to emerging societal challenges, including ecological crises and political upheavals. It attends to creativity and speculative thinking as socially organised capacities, not merely individual fantasy, and examines how visions of possible futures are produced, contested, and enacted. Using ethnographic methods, anthropologists gather ethnographic insights into local stories, rituals, and everyday decision-making, situating future-oriented projects within historical and cultural frameworks. This …