Rethinking Hope in Dystopian Times: A Critical Assessment

I begin by discussing the salience of the idea of hope for the present day with some examples which illustrate its strong political and cultural resonance. However, the now very extensive literature on hope, mostly in moral and political philosophy, is somewhat diverse and unclear as regards how it should be understood in ways that make it meaningful for the present day. While some of the most important perspectives are in the political philosophy of hope, there is almost no discussion of its sociological significance. I offer a brief critical strand of the main themes in recent writing on hope and argue for a conception of hope that incorporates the dimensions of emotion, reason and the imagination. I also link the concept of hope to utopianism and argue that it preserves the possibility of transcendence. On this broad basis I make a proposal for a conception of hope that demonstrates its relevance for understanding alternatives to the forces of destructive capitalism and authoritarianism that prevail today. Hope arises especially in conditions of uncertainty, fear, or suffering. To understand hope, one must understand the temptations of despair and the experience of loss.