A hope against hope: scandal, cynicism and critique in the wake of the Covid-19 polycrisis

Crises, by definition, are a time of significant potential change (Roitman, 2014). Hope similarly arises from a conviction in the possibility of change. However, hope can also be problematic. One can harbour false hopes, allow fantasies to become a barrier to productive change, and lose hope (Berlant, 2011). This chapter aims to interrogate the problematic figure of hope as it is being in the wake of Covid-19. Specifically, it seeks to understand why, in light of the profound vulnerabilities, injustices and insecurity exposed by the Covid-19 polycrisis, the deep abiding hope at present for many is simply for a return to normality. To do so, this chapter considers the complex, if not contradictory ways hope and hopelessness are manifest within this period of multiple of overlapping crises; asking whether we are experiencing a crisis of hope, and what can be hoped for in a world so afflicted by crisis. It begins by situating the (recently fashionable) concept of ‘polycrisis’ alongside Reinhardt Koselleck’s etymology of crisis to raise questions concerning the historical significance of this new mode of understanding and experiencing crisis. This chapter then moves to consider the conditions for hope in a the time of polycrisis by considering how critique, cynicism and cruel optimism played out through the framing of the Covid-19 crisis within the British media. It concludes with a reflection on the role of critique the possibility of holding out a ‘hope against hope’ in an era of polycrisis.