In the past decades, there is a growing scholarly interest in the phenomenon of hope. This ranges from political science to literary studies and from economics to health sciences. However, until now there has not been a good overview of the current state of affairs in this interdisciplinary research on hope. This is sorely needed, however, as there is considerable conceptual confusion about the concept of ‘hope’ among scientists and because the research on this topic is often ‘siloed’.
Because of this lacuna, Prof. Dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel (together with Prof. Dr. Anthony Scioli) took the initiative to edit a major compendium, in order to present the current state of hope research. The result of that work is now available: The Oxford Compendium of Hope, published by Oxford University Press. This book is the most comprehensive collection of research and scholarship on this topic, with contributions from over 70 scholars across fourteen disciplines. The latest theoretical and empirical research in the humanities, social sciences, and medicine are included along with chapters on race, gender, and the LGBTQ+ experience, as well as migration and human rights. Additional sections address hope in economics, organizational leadership, ecology, technology, and the arts. Extracts from seminal contributions include the philosophical and theological insights of Bloch, Lynch, Marcel, and Moltmann; Cowan on the Australian dreamtime; Menninger and Hinds from psychiatry and nursing; Capps on the development of hope; and Sikkink on human rights. The concluding chapter deals with key conceptual issues that confront serious students of hope as well as potential blind spots.
The significance of this compendium extends beyond academic discourse on hope to its societal relevance. This is evidenced in the forewords for this Compendium, written by Jan Peter Balkenende, former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and by Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation.
This Compendium has been prepared and edited as the result of years of research into hope. The background to this is the interdisciplinary research project The Hope Project, in which close collaboration took place with researchers and partners, including the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation. The work on this Compendium was funded by generous donations from the Goldschmeding Foundation for People, Work, and Economy. This made it possible to publish this Compendium as an Open Access publication. The book can be downloaded free of charge from the Oxford University Press website.