Dissecting the Polycrisis, Charting the Conceptual Terrain of Enquiry

The author examines the concept of polycrisis by distinguishing between surface-level crises and deeper structural drivers, arguing that prevailing approaches remain overly descriptive and fail to account for underlying causes. Drawing on a historical materialist framework, the author conceptualizes polycrisis as the manifestation of four interconnected structural crises: global capitalism, global gender relations, global race relations, and global ecology. The author argues that contemporary events such as war, pandemics, and economic instability are not independent crises but expressions of these deeper, mutually reinforcing dynamics rooted in capitalist social relations and their historical expansion. The article concludes that understanding the polycrisis requires moving beyond empirical descriptions toward a structural analysis that reveals the systemic contradictions shaping current global instability.