Image: Peter von Stackelberg 
Image: Peter von Stackelberg
Stories have long been a product of the times within which they are created. With the chaos of the Trump era in the United States and massive economic, social, political, and environmental disruptions occurring globally, Hopepunk is emerging as a new storytelling template.
Hopepunk says that genuinely and sincerely caring about something, anything, requires bravery and strength. Hopepunk isn’t ever about submission or acceptance: It’s about standing up and fighting for what you believe in. It’s about standing up for other people. It’s about DEMANDING a better, kinder world, and truly believing that we can get there if we care about each other as hard as we possibly can, with every drop of power in our little hearts.
Alexandra Rowland
As hopepunk has entered the mainstream, some of the characteristics that distinguish it from other punk genres (cyberpunk, steampunk, and others) include:
- A perspective that being soft, gentle, or wholesome is not a weakness.
- An emphasis on community-building through cooperation rather than conflict.
- A belief that fighting for positive social systems is a fight worth having.
- The struggle to achieve human progress is ongoing, with no fixed happy ending.