Polycrisis Resource Library

The Polycrisis Resource Library is a growing collection of media that help to understand polycrisis, develop strategies to address polycrisis, and build a field of polycrisis analysis.

Response Diversity as a Sustainability Strategy

January 30, 2023

Brian Walker, Anne-Sophie Crépin, Magnus Nyström, John M. Anderies, Erik Andersson, Thomas Elmqvist, Cibele Queiroz, Scott Barrett, Elena Bennett, Juan Camilo Cardenas, Stephen R. Carpenter, F. Stuart Chapin III, Aart de Zeeuw, Joern Fischer, Carl Folke, Simon Levin, Karine Nyborg, Stephen Polasky, Kathleen Segerson, Karen C. Seto, Marten Scheffer, Jason F. Shogren, Alessandro Tavoni, Jeroen van den Bergh, Elke U. Weber, and Jeffrey R. Vincent

The authors argue that the most effective way to build general resilience in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world is to foster “response diversity… a system’s variety of responses to…

Are we Headed toward a “Polycrisis”? The Buzzword of the Moment Explained

January 28, 2023

Daniel Drezner

Noting that polycrisis was the key buzzword at the World Economic Forum’s January 2023 meeting in Davos, Daniel Drezner attempts to make sense of the concept as “the concatenation of…

Whose Polycrisis?

January 27, 2023

Farwa Sial

Farwa Sial argues that the polycrisis neologism is a feint that allows international financial institutions to continue business as usual by obscuring their role in global problems. She critiques definitions…

On the ‘Polycrisis’ Part I: Issues in Abstract Conceptual Circumference

January 24, 2023

Bo Harvey

Bo Harvey examines origins and recent popularity of the polycrisis concept, then rebuts critiques of the concept by Noah Smith and Guney Isikara. In response to the latter, Harvey problematizes…

So We’re in a Polycrisis. Is That Even a Thing?

January 21, 2023

Andreas Kluth

Andreas Kluth argues that the term polycrisis is unhelpful to solving the world’s problems because it captures nothing new. Human history is full of complex crises, interactions between them, and…

Secretary-General’s Remarks at the World Economic Forum

January 18, 2023

António Guterres

In his address to the World Economic Forum, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres proposed that “Our world is plagued by a perfect storm on a number of fronts”, including an…

Davos Obsession With ‘Polycrisis’ May Seem Remote, But Corporate Boards Should Take Notice

January 18, 2023

Michael Peregrine

In response to the 2023 World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Michael Peregrine argues that “the emphasis on polycrisis calls on boards to not only look more broadly on global…

Why ‘Polycrisis’ was the Buzzword of Day 1 in Davos

January 17, 2023

Yasmeen Serhan

Reporting on the first day of the World Economic Forum’s 2023 summit in Davos, Time magazine writer Yasmeen Serhan notes that “polycrisis” is the “most ubiquitous buzzword” of the meeting.

De-Globalization or Re-Globalization?

January 17, 2023

Péter Szijjártó, Niall Ferguson, Ngaire Woods, Ian Bremmer, and Adam Tooze

In this inaugural panel of the 2023 World Economic Forum summit Adam Tooze asserts that the term polycrisis aptly characterizes the state of the world, while Historian Niall Ferguson dismisses…

The Fundamental Issue – Overshoot

January 11, 2023

Nate Hagens and William E. Rees

Interviewed by Nate Hagens, William E. Rees argues that overshoot is a fundamental issue underlying all environmental problems. Our economy is premised on unlimited growth but the global human ecological…

About the Resource Library

The Polycrisis Resource Library includes resources that:

  • Comment on the polycrisis as a concept and as a present global reality
  • Undertake similar analysis using different—but related—concepts
  • Analyze crisis interactions among multiple global systems

Though not exhaustive, the Library strives to present a diverse representation of views on different aspects of the polycrisis discussion, and will be updated as that discussion evolves. Search for resources with the keyword search bar, or by using the drop-down menus to filter for type of resource, global systems addressed, and key themes.

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