Feminist Hope(lessness) in Apocalyptic Times

The rise of far-right anti-gender movements has become increasingly visible, particularly in Europe, with the surge of far-right actors in last elections. Additionally, we are witnessing the development of various global crises, including wars, genocide, and harshened migration policies in the Global North. This shift coalesces with a time when feminist, queer and anti-racist movements have gathered momentum and achieved recognition, albeit in different levels, in the face of growing hostility. This socio-political juncture has accelerated the efforts to collectively envision and hope for an alternative feminist future with social justice at its core. However, one question remains: can hope help us get there?

In a broad tradition of critical theory (Bloch 1954, Coleman and Ferreday 2011), as well as in decolonial (Muñoz, 2009; Bliss 2015) and other epistemic traditions (Wilderson 2017; Edelman, 2004; Ahmed, 2010; Silverbloom 2024), notions of hope and hopelessness have been elaborated within different and sometimes contradictory frameworks. This paper intervenes in the dialogue between these different understandings and contradictions to engage with notions of feminist hope and feminist hopelessness through encounters with feminist activists.

The paper asks questions like: How do feminist activists view futures of hope and hopelessness? How does hope(lessness) unfold in feminist activist sense-making of the world? What potentialities for social transformation do hope and hopelessness have?

To answer these questions, we draw on in-depth interviews with feminist activists in Spain and Sweden, and in dialogue with various feminist, queer, antiracist traditions thinking through hope and hopelessness, this paper explores the potentiality for societal transformation of hope and hopelessness alike.