Connecting to Suffering

Abstract

In this chapter, Paul Hoggett reflects on the nature of engagement, indifference, and denial in the relations between the public and the ‘suffering other’. It uses examples from clinical practice and political activism around climate change to propose a vision of psychosocial connectedness to others’ suffering, near and afar, based on compassion and solidarity rather than pity. Hoggett acknowledges the emotional cost of trying to maintain such connectedness and the sustaining role played by hope. He warns against false dichotomies between ethics of care versus ethics of justice, and argues for the importance of anger fueled by a wish for social justice in fighting denial and enabling public acknowledgment and active participation.