Hope: Religion and Socialism

Optimism of the intellect, pessimism of the will. Or is it the other way round? This week we will discuss the idea of hope. Religious believers find hope in conceptions of the afterlife, in the goodness of God and creation and in the regular coming together of like-minded people as a community. Is socialism inherently hopeful? What should socialists hope for? How do we stay hopeful in a world of defeat and exploitation? Is hope a virtue or is it too close to cope?

Everyone is welcome to join the discussion, regardless of prior knowledge - come listen and share your ideas! If you want to learn a bit about the topic in advance, we recommend a few sources:

From Zer0 Books' podcast, "The Marxism of Utopia: An Introduction to Ernst Bloch"

Friere's "Pedagogy of Hope" (opening words)

Ralph Miliband's "The Plausibility of Socialism"

Doors open from 6pm for a 6:30pm start.

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There will be no regular session of this series in May, since Bristol Transformed Festival is returning for the full weekend of the 18th-19th! We'll be running a Religion session, and hope to see you there. 

We will probably do more in the future but on a much more ad hoc and seasonal basis. Massive thanks to everyone who has come along so far and contributed to some great discussions!

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We welcome participation from all people: those of all faiths, all political beliefs and none are invited to join the discussion.

The sessions will mostly be run in a P4C (Philosophy for Communities) format which means that they are interactive and participatory with the content and direction of the session decided democratically.

Don’t worry if you’re worrying about managing to complete the reading. Do your best. Turning up and taking part is more important.

The sessions will take place at 6:30pm on the following Tuesdays: Jan 16th, Feb 13th, Mar 12th, and Apr 9th.