Counterfactual hypotheses can refocus attention on present political possibilities.

Evidence

Well, ‘what if’ questions have their uses. In particular they can help us to look again at potential and possibilities in the here and now, and to do what is doable, and say what is sayable, here, now, today. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 760

Categorization

• QUESTION: This seems to be the final section of the book closing on Runnymede’s commission. Worth chasing what the full set of these ‘what if’ counterfactuals were — they’re not shown here.
• XREF: connects to: Contingency of historical conjunctures is a precondition for political possibility; Future-oriented discourse evades present political participation; Political unity is strengthened rather than weakened by divergent attentions — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 347 (+1 more)

Related

• Contingency of historical conjunctures is a precondition for political possibility (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Future-oriented discourse evades present political participation #contradicts (0.75)