The Generative Power of Collective Hope

Abstract

In the face of widespread structural injustice, many people feel hopeless. Is hope valuable for political activism, or is it naive, impractical, or even counterproductive? Here I focus on collective hope as opposed to individual hope. I argue that collective hope can both sustain us in our political commitments and generate new commitments; it is therefore particularly valuable for activist movements and should be cultivated. Through the contemporary example of the prison abolition movement, I address pessimistic and pragmatic worries about political hope, show how collective hope motivates political action through activities of shared imagination, and introduce the concept of holding hope. In order for collective hope to emerge, some members of a group need to hold hope for the collective by sustaining their individual hope and supporting the capacity of other individuals to hope.

Keywords

• hope
• activism
• collective hope
• imagination
• abolition
• prisons