Avoiding the hope of avoiding collapse: collapsology and non-hope as an emotional practice of conviction

Malmqvist, Karl

doi:10.1080/14742837.2024.2321131

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

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“…In line with my theorisation of hope, a no-hope stance combined with action generates hope, but collapsologists, as demonstrated by Malmqvist (2024), counteract hope through 'impossibility work' by cultivating their online groups as safe spaces of emotive-cognitive support to this end. The forums identify and discuss false hope sources, like renewable energy sources, and the likelihood of fear objects such as wars, pandemics and famines.…”

Section: Transitioners and Collapsologistsmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Calling themselves individualists and nerds of facts and numbers, they rely on the evaluation of fear objects as too overwhelming, and of external circumstances as too uncertain, to identify any source or object of hope (Servigne and Stevens, 2020). Instead, they advance a 'no-hope stance' (Malmqvist, 2024). Collapsologist Erik, for instance, says, 'Well, I try not to [hope].…”

Section: Transitioners and Collapsologistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous research (for example, Kleres and Wettergren, 2017) we had found that hope was crucial for climate activists mobilising to avert civilisational collapse, so we were also curious about the selected groups' approach to hope. It turned out that interviewees articulated strong ideas about hope (Cassegård, 2023;Malmqvist, 2024), rejecting what they consider 'passive ecomodernist hope' (hope in technological solutions and green growth; see for example, Cassegård et al, 2017) held by the majority population. Collapsologists considered hope per se delusional, asserting that they have no hope, while transitioners advanced 'active hope' as an alternative to passive ecomodernist hope.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotionalising hope in times of climate change

Wettergren

2024

Emotions and Society

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The aim is to theorise hope from a sociology of emotion perspective and propose a general framework for the analysis of discrete emotions – the emotive-cognitive chain of evaluation – that can be applied by analysing different types of hope. Hope is defined as the emotion of future possibility, distinct from self-confidence, faith and trust. Hope as a foreground emotion, subject to emotive-cognitive evaluation, arises in a bad present (target) as an outcome of past failed hopes. The object of hope is future improvement. Given limited agency in fundamentally uncertain circumstances, an external source of hope is located. Background import informs the assessment of the present as bad, what improvement to hope for (object) and the identification of sources. I argue that fear is a companion emotion of hope, and that a reasonable balance between hope and fear can make hope more in tune with real circumstances. Elaborating on the action continuum of hope, I propose that hope is never truly passive and that action itself generates hope. As a collective emotion, hope becomes collectively evaluated and mutually supported in a responsive social context. Responsive hope may, however, also be delusional. Different hope constructs are illustrated, drawing on findings in a project on the post-apocalyptic environmental movement. Theorising hope in the context of the climate crisis highlights the specific quality of hope as an emotion of future possibility and the significance of hope for present action and future object outcomes, its potential for social change and how we collectively create the future.

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Section: Transitioners and Collapsologistsmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Transitioners and Collapsologistsmentioning

confidence: 99%