Polycrisis

Polycrisis (from the French polycrise) describes a complex situation where multiple, interconnected crises converge and amplify each other, resulting in a predicament that is difficult to manage or resolve. Unlike single crises that may have clearer causes and solutions, a polycrisis involves overlapping and interdependent issues, making it a more pervasive and enduring state of instability. This concept reflects growing concerns about the sustainability and viability of contemporary socio-economic, political, and ecological systems.

The term was originally coined by French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin in his 1993 book Terre-Patrie. It gained increasing popularity in the early 2020s as a way to refer to the overlapping effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, war, surging debt levels, inflation, climate change, resource depletion, growing inequality, artificial intelligence and synthetic biology, and democratic backsliding.

Critics of the term have characterized it as a buzzword or a distraction from more concrete causes of the crises, suggesting that it may obscure specific, actionable problems and create a sense of overwhelming complexity that could hinder effective responses.