Hope and Feminist Theory

A feminist perspective on hope can enrich philosophical inquiry into the nature and value of hope. While standard Western conceptions of hope highlight a private, internal resource, a feminist orientation aligns with theorists who adopt a social constructivist perspective. Feminist insights about the relational nature of the self, in particular, help to reveal important differences in how hope is experienced across diverse human lives. Oppression is a threat to hope, revealing the ways in which social conditions shape and constrain what people hope for, how hope feels, and the very capacity for hope. A feminist perspective suggests a different way of thinking about the root causes of despair, for example, as experienced by Indigenous groups around the globe. Adoption of a feminist perspective reshapes theorizing on the value and rationality of hope at the individual and collective level.