Hope in the Dark

by Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit has worked on environmental and human rights campaigns since the 1980s. She wrote Hope in the Dark in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq and George W. Bush's re-election as President of the USA.

This was a time of despair for Democrats and progressive campaigners, with many seeing a bleak future amid great uncertainty. Solnit argues, however, that dark times are in fact when those who keep the flame of hope alive can create the seeds for the biggest change in the future.

On the surface then, this is a book about politics and activism. Looking more deeply at the lessons it contains, though, shows that they are also important insights for agency leaders as well.

By their nature, agencies are about advocating for positive change in their clients' businesses and the marketplace. And, internally, agency leaders are activists, navigating great uncertainty while campaigning for a better future, leading teams to create change.

Successful agencies have a cause, and are engines of hope.

The book opens by quoting the phrase American newsreader Wes Nisker used to close his news bulletins: "If you don't like the news … go out and make some of your own" — and that's pretty much the idea at the heart of running an agency.

The Big Idea

Solnit argues that hope is not about luck, or a simplistic belief that everything will be fine. Hope is about realising there are possibilities that need to be acted on to create a better future.

Hope is comfortable with uncertainty, accepting that we don't know what will happen — but it sees that this uncertainty, by definition, leaves room to act to influence the outcome.

Hope is an alternative to the certainty claimed by optimism and pessimism, which excuse us from acting due to some predetermined outcome.

Hope is not passive, though — action is key.

The author says hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch. Hope is an axe you can break down doors with in an emergency.

In the darkness of the 1930s, the German philosopher Ernst Bloch wrote about hope: “The work of this emotion requires people who throw themselves actively into what is becoming, to which they themselves belong.”

Hope means another world is possible, not promised. Leaders build stories around that hope, and inspire people to make it a reality step by step. It's often a long and difficult journey, but it has to be started, and sustained, to stand any chance of reaching its destination.

Key Points

The book sets out its ideas in a series of essays, giving examples from previous campaigns and quotes from campaigners, observers and inspiring leaders. In this summary we draw out the key lessons from across the different essays.

Change starts by altering the narrative

Changing the story is the foundation of real change. Political change often follows cultural change:

“ … every conflict is in part a battle over the story we tell, or who tells and who is heard.”