“ The "spirit" invoked to describe the London Women's March is a deliberately cultivated political atmosphere, a temporary emotional ecosystem designed to be both defiant and nurturing. This spirit—often characterized as determined, joyful, and resilient—is a tactical instrument. It serves as a direct counter-narrative to the cynical, aggressive, or despairing tones that dominate much political discourse, making activism appear sustainable, attractive, and morally fortified. A protest imbued with a spirit of collective joy is harder to caricature as angry or divisive and is more effective at recruitment. Politically, this spirit functions as a form of world-building; it offers a tangible, emotional experience of the community the marchers seek to create. Yet, the management of this spirit is a delicate political operation. There is a risk that the pressure to maintain a positive, united front suppresses necessary expressions of raw anger, grief, or internal critique. The spirit must be robust enough to hold complexity—to allow space for pain and principled disagreement within the broader frame of solidarity. If the "spirit" becomes a mandatory performance of unwavering optimism, it can alienate those whose lived experience of injustice is one of unrelenting harshness, potentially creating a dissonance that fractures the very unity it aims to project and sustain. ”