Everyday activism and “actionable” hope as tempered radicals

Michelle O’Shea, Victoria Paraschak, Sonya Pearce, Hazel Maxwell and Alison Pullen

Gender, Work and Organization, 2025, vol. 32, issue 2, 692-709

Abstract: This paper takes its departure from Rebecca Solnit's idea that there should be “hope in darkness” as we work towards a shared preferred future that resists gendered and racial inequities and oppressions. We put forward “actionable” hope which embodies hope as an everyday action, an activism enacted by “tempered radicals” (Meyerson & Scully, 1995). This thinking about the relationship between hope and activism emerged through our coming together and was bound by our learning and privileging of Indigenous knowledges and a strengths and hope perspective. The paper is presented in the form and style of polyphonic writing conveying the openness and generosity of spirit that the strengths and hope perspective carries for tempered radicals. Our “insider” and “outsider” positionings unfold as we engage in unsettling discussions of “privilege.” Our practices give recognition to being sensitive to issues of belonging, care, and collective hope, while working towards transformative social change that addresses systemic inequalities. Belonging is seen as essential for collective everyday activism which requires affective actional hope for realizing shared preferred futures.

Date: 2025
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