Conference “Contesting Hopes: Navigating between Despair and Optimism in Context of Crisis
Hope is a crucial driving force in human life and provides resources we need to cope with crises. It is precisely in adversity that a longing for a better situation often grows, such as restoration of the old or transformation into something new.
This conference focuses on the role of hope in contexts of crisis, in particular those in agriculture and healthcare. Hope in these external contexts is often contested: farmers may hope for continuation of their farm, whereas others living in the same area may hope for a steep reduction in industrial agriculture. But the contested nature of hope is also internal to the individual. A patient facing a terminal disease, for example, can hope simultaneously for healing, and for good opportunities of closure. These examples show that contested
hope is vulnerable, challenged by our ambivalence, other people and external circumstances.
Furthermore, hope may also be contesting, as it energizes people to challenge the status quo. Hope may empower them to seek new solutions to seemingly hopeless situations.
Leading questions are what role hope, hopelessness, and despair play at 1) the sociopolitical level, 2) the meso-level of communities and groups, and 3) the individual level.
Related questions include:
• How does hope develop over time?
• What are helpful and hindering functions of hope?
• How can one deal well with hopelessness and despair?
• What strategies of hope does one adopt?
• How do people maintain hope, for example, or how and when do they adjust it?
• To what extent is guidance needed, for example, from spiritual caregivers or other professionals, and how should such guidance look?
In light of these questions, the conference encourages presentations from various interdisciplinary perspectives. This exchange will be facilitated by keynote lectures that
present distinct perspectives on them.
The Call for Papers is open and can be found via this link, together with more detailed information on keynote speakers (a great line-up!)