Epilogue: Joy's futures

A history of happiness has a strong temporal bent. We experience happiness now in the present or we pursue it, and, for modern peoples at least, we do so against a backdrop of a history of progress, where happiness has been brought in nearer reach through the social and economic developments of the last few centuries. This history, of course, has been placed under pressure in recent decades as the capacity for new generations to achieve the standard of living of their parents has stalled. This epilogue explores contemporary responses to the happiness project and highlights new modes of thinking about joy, particularly underpinned by African American race theory and Queer theory.