Hopepunk

At the Oceania Futures and Foresight Symposium Alice referred to Hopepunk and this really resonated with all in the room. Afterwards, I fished back in my archives to a youth workshop I facilitated in 2023 at the University of Canterbury. We hosted the amazing Sophie Howe, the first Commissioner for Future Generations in Wales and I used the idea of Hopepunk to frame the session.

If you haven’t come across the term before, hopepunk is a speculative fiction subgenre that sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from grimdark. Author Alexandra Rowland coined the term in 2017 to describe stories where characters fight for positive change through kindness, community, and hope — even when everything around them is falling apart. The central idea is that choosing to care is a brave, deliberate act of rebellion.

Key Features

Hope as Resistance: Hopepunk pushes back against the idea that cynicism is the smarter or more sophisticated position. Staying optimistic in the face of despair is treated as a conscious political act — essentially a weapon against hopelessness itself.

Community over Individualism: Characters in hopepunk stories succeed through collaboration, empathy, and chosen families. Solo heroics take a back seat to collective effort and mutual support.

Not Naïve Optimism: Hopepunk doesn’t pretend the world isn’t broken. Characters face real hardship and struggle, but they keep working toward something better regardless of the odds. It’s grounded, not idealistic.

“Softness” as Strength: Where grimdark tends to equate brutality with power, hopepunk treats kindness and compassion as genuine strengths rather than liabilities.

Why we need this

As I write this, the world seems more grimdark. Violence, aggression and testosterone fill the airwaves. Our senses are constantly assaulted with stories that can send us down rabbit holes spiralling into despair. Yet we do have agency over our own thinking and that is why it is worth revisiting Hopepunk. It’s not Pollyanna or head in the sand. It is a deliberate futures path that requires just as much, if not more, strength.

What if Hopepunk becomes our mantra?

Let’s spend less time doomscrolling and more time connecting positively. One conversation at a time.