For a long time, we’ve had the utopian expectation that every generation would be better off. Now we don’t even dare to imagine a future for our children. In Optimism Without Hope, Tommy Wieringa argues that the climate crisis, with all its political and social consequences, has left us with a form of futurelessness that is unprecedented in human history.

Hope proves its usefulness in crises with natural endings, such as wars and pandemics; in the climate crisis it appears to be of little value. But if you give up hope, Wieringa argues, you can also get rid of hopelessness. Optimism without hope is a mindset that allows you to defend some pieces of a livable future, regardless of the outcome.