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.
Asher Miller and Richard Heinberg define polycrisis as “the tangles of global environmental and social dilemmas that are accumulating, mutually interacting, and worsening” and argue that the present polycrisis indicates…
The authors explore how AI, while offering promising benefits in healthcare, also poses significant risks to human health and society. They examine three major threats from misused narrow AI: increased…
Steffan Heuer discusses the definition of polycrisis, some of the crises facing the world today, and the shortcomings of current approaches that target more immediate issues. “While the term is…
In this report for the Strategic Innovation Unit of the United Nations Development Programme, Zack Walsh argues that the underlying driver of the polycrisis is our unsustainable and unjust economic…
This report explores how Europe’s research and innovation (R&I) policy can make a decisive contribution to Europe’s ‘earthshot’—a future of well-being, peace, and sustainability. It calls for R&I to adapt…
David Henig and Daniel M. Knight argue that anthropology has much to offer in the conceptualization and study of polycrisis, drawing on a disciplinary “toolkit that includes historicity, temporality, scalarity…
Societies throughout history have faced polycrises, but the outcomes range widely from collapse to positive adaptation. The authors have developed a Crisis Database of 150 past societal crises and find…
The authors discuss how Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) have limited capacity to navigate complex, interconnected global crises. They advocate for the integration of transdisciplinary approaches, including socio-technical transitions and diverse…
This article examines the nature, causes, mechanisms, and impact of global systemic crises and their implications for global policymaking and governance.
The Polycrisis Resource Library includes resources that:
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.
Can Democracy Survive the Polycrisis?
George Soros
George Soros argues that there are three main sources of the polycrisis (in order of importance): artificial intelligence, climate change, and Russia’s war on Ukraine. AI poses a “mortal threat”…