The Commodification of Hope: Capitalist Realism and the Crisis of Future Imagination

This preprint examines Mark Fisher's concept of capitalist realism to investigate how contemporary neoliberal capitalism commodifies hope and constrains the imagination of alternative futures. Drawing primarily on Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? and Ghosts of My Life, the study argues that hope has increasingly been transformed from a collective political force into an individualized, market-oriented aspiration. Through a qualitative philosophical methodology based on conceptual analysis and hermeneutic interpretation, the paper explores the relationships among capitalist realism, hauntology, and political imagination. It contends that the resulting crisis of future imagination reflects the ideological closure produced by neoliberal capitalism rather than a lack of creativity or innovation. By situating Fisher's thought within broader debates in critical theory and political philosophy, the study contributes to contemporary discussions on ideology, culture, temporality, and the politics of hope.