Lesson plan
Polycrisis
A polycrisis (from the French ) describes multiple crises (economic, environmental, geopolitical, social, or technological) occurring simultaneously and interacting in ways that amplify each other, producing outcomes more severe than the sum of the individual crises. The concept highlights the interdependencies and feedback loops within global systems, where shocks in one domain (e.g., climate change, financial instability, pandemics, energy insecurity, or political conflict) cascade into others. Beyond describing complexity and fragility, the "polycrisis" also captures elite helplessness in the face of ruptures, as observed in Project Syndicate: "We often complain that [leaders] in Davos are out of touch with everyday people. Today... they are just as confused as the people they are meant to represent." Critics such as Daniel Drezner have characterized it as a buzzword, which may distract from the root causes of crises and create an overwhelming sense of complexity that hinders effective responses. Although the word was coined in the 1990s by French theorists Edgar Morin and Anne-Brigitte Kern, it gained widespread currency in the 2010s through amplification by Western leaders, academics and institutions such as the World Economic Forum (WEF).…
Article summary
A polycrisis (from the French ) describes multiple crises (economic, environmental, geopolitical, social, or technological) occurring simultaneously and interacting in ways that amplify each other, producing outcomes more severe than the sum of the individual crises. The concept highlights the interdependencies and feedback loops within global systems, where shocks in one domain (e.g., climate change, financial instability, pandemics, energy insecurity, or political conflict) cascade into others. Beyond describing complexity and fragility, the "polycrisis" also captures elite helplessness in the face of ruptures, as observed in Project Syndicate: "We often complain that [leaders] in Davos are out of touch with everyday people. Today... they are just as confused as the people they are meant to represent." Critics such as Daniel Drezner have characterized it as a buzzword, which may distract from the root causes of crises and create an overwhelming sense of complexity that hinders effective responses. Although the word was coined in the 1990s by French theorists Edgar Morin and Anne-Brigitte Kern, it gained widespread currency in the 2010s through amplification by Western leaders, academics and institutions such as the World Economic Forum (WEF).…
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.