What does one do to improve our conditions? When one reads about the notion of hope, some of it is in dense theoretical books (as in Ernst Bloch’s massive theoretical treatise The Principle of Hope 3 vols, MIT Press 1995) and others more accessible. My understanding is that hope is not the same as optimism, or hope cannot be seen as the opposite of pessimism.

Professor Raymond Suttner unpacks his column, 'South African crisis: despair, hope and the prophetic – Part Two'

Click here to read the column.