The belief that things are going wrong and nothing can be done about it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Such political depression is disempowering, while actions carried by solidarity and emancipatory collectivity can cure political depression and improve messy realities. There are no guarantees of success, but moving collectively has been shown to overcome hopelessness and create concrete changes. By continuing and interconnecting, conditions favorable to profound transformation are becoming more probable and can be seized by those who are active, organized, and alert.
Even if this possibility is not realized and the worst collapse scenarios continue to unfold, having practiced solidarity and built supporting structures makes a real difference. In this sense, hope is an emancipatory and empowering attitude, practice, and infrastructure. This belief resonated throughout the complementary contributions to the By Design and By Disaster Conference 2025. This book is born of that event.
