Is there a place for hope in the imagined future of public health? A commentary building on Freire’s sociology of hope.

By examining hope through a sociological lens, this commentary frames hope as a critical sociopolitical tool for public health to address structural inequalities and foster healthier communities. We draw on Paolo Freire’s pedagogies of oppression and hope, since they provide a ‘praxis of hope’. We explore the concept of hope – explaining what it is, to then consider what it enables – conveying the ways hope is imperative to human flourishing and imperative in the imagined future of public health. We present a case for public health engagement in developing ‘hope-based’ practices and policies which means working with communities to identify the factors acting as oppressive forces and then, through critical consciousness development, working towards overcoming these in a move towards hope (and health).