Cruel Optimism Glossary

by Lauren Berlant

Cruel Optimism Glossary

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Written by people who wish to remain anonymous

Aesthetic

Dealing with the beauty of the world

Capitalist

A person who adheres to the principles of capitalism and profits off a business or product

Contingency

A back-up plan for a future event that may go wrong

Cruel

Being mean and evil to others and feeling no concern about it

Obstacle

Something that gets in the way of progress

Optimism

Being hopeful and having confidence about the future succesful outcome of something

Perceive

To be conscious of something

Prevail

To be succesful

Retracted

To withdraw a statement after finding it untrue

Temporality

Existence in time

Trauma

A tremendously disturbing, hard event

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