Sohail Inayatullah


Sohail Inayatullah is a Pakistani-born Australian academic, futurology researcher and a visiting professor at the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies at Tamkang University in Taipei, Taiwan.

Biography

Born in 1958 in Lahore, Pakistan, to a father who worked as a diplomat for the United Nations and a Sufi mother, he grew up in countries like the United States and Switzerland, having as his main intellectual and spiritual influence the Indian mystic P. R. Sarkar.

Academic contributions

Inayatullah is most famous for introducing and pioneering the futures technique of causal layered analysis, that uses a four-layered approach to bring about transformative change. He introduced the idea in a widely cited paper for Futures. He also edited and wrote the introductory chapter for the Causal Layered Analysis Reader. He has also described the idea for a popular audience in an article for The Futurist and a TEDx talk.
Inayatullah's work on CLA was examined in a book by Jose W. Ramos in 2003.

Academic positions

In addition to his role at Tamkang University, Inayatullah is an Adjunct Professor, Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, Macquarie University, Sydney, and Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Role in journals and web publications

Inayatullah is co-editor of the Journal of Futures Studies, one of the top journals in futures studies. He is also associated editor of New Renaissance and is on the editorial boards of Futures, Development, Peace and Democracy in South Asia, and foresight.
Inayatullah also co-runs the website Metafuture.org with Ivana Milojevic.

Other affiliations

Inayatullah is a member of the World Future Society and has a blog there. He is also a Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation. He has also voiced his support for the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reform in the United Nations.