About the Book: From Pessimism to Promise challenges the dominant narrative of digital dystopia, spotlighting a contagious optimism toward technology among global youth—especially in regions outside the West. Payal Arora, drawing on fieldwork across Brazil, India, and Bangladesh, demonstrates how Gen Z in the Global South embraces digital tools for self-actualization, not just escapism HarperCollins IndiaRandom House. She introduces concepts like algorithms of aspiration, relational design, and digital spaces reimagined for pleasure, care, and equity. The book celebrates how bottom-up, everyday hopes can reshape digital futures—and why it’s not naive, but essential, to design with hope