Koncepcja polikryzysu w naukach o polityce
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.98.15Keywords:
polycrisis, globalization, crises, political scienceAbstract
THE CONCEPT OF POLYCRISIS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
The term “polycrisis” has appeared in various contexts over the past decades, but recently it has made a breakthrough into both journalistic and scientific language. The popularity of this term seems to come primarily from its concise and intuitive description of the realities the world has been facing in recent years— overlapping and mutually reinforcing crises of various natures (economic, political, ecological, etc.). This article aims to consider the implications of using the concept of polycrisis in political science, and to answer the question of whether it brings a new quality to political science research. The article will deconstruct the concept itself and indicate its connections with existing theories, such as systemic risk and complexity theory. It will also identify research areas where polycrises have the potential to provide deeper explanations or improved predictions of current phenomena.
Downloads
References
Ágh A., The EU Polycrisis and Hard Populism in East-Central Europe: From the Copenhagen Dilemma to the Juncker Paradox, „Politics in Central Europe” 2017, vol. 13, no. 2-3, s. 7-32, https://doi.org/10.1515/pce-2017-0001.
Albert M.J., Capitalism, Complexity, and Polycrisis: Toward Neo-Gramscian Polycrisis Analysis, „Global Sustainability” 2025, vol. 8, no. 7, s. 1-11, https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2025.10.
Bressanelli E., Natali D., Tested by the Polycrisis: Reforming or Transforming the EU?, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 246-251, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7894.
Buzogány A., Ćetković S., Maltby T., EU Renewable Energy Governance and the Ukraine War: Moving Ahead Through Strategic Flexibility?, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 263-274. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7361.
Cairney P., Complexity Theory in Political Science and Public Policy, „Political Studies Review” 2012, vol. 10, no. 3, 346-358, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9302.2012.00270.x.
Ceron M., The National Recovery and Resilience Plans: Towards a Next Generation of Fiscal Coordination?, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 324-338, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7359.
Davies M., Hobson Ch., An Embarrassment of Changes: International Relations and the COVID-19 Pandemic, „Australian Journal of International Affairs” 2022, vol. 77, no. 2, s. 150-168, https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2022.2095614.
Dinan Sh., Béland D., Howlett M., How Useful Is the Concept of Polycrisis? Lessons from the Development of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit during the COVID-19 Pandemic, „Policy Design and Practice” 2024, vol. 7, no. 1, s. 430-441, https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2024.2316409.
Drezner D., Are We Headed Toward a “Polycrisis”? The Buzzword of the Moment, Explained, Vox, 28 I 2023, [online] https://www.vox.com/23572710/polycrisis-davos-history-climaterussia-ukraine-inflation.
Ferguson N., The World’s Cascade of Disasters Is Not a Coincidence, Bloomberg, 25 VII 2021, [online] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-07-25/niall-ferguson-covidfires-floods-protests-are-pattern-not-coincidence.
The Global Risks. Report 2023, World Economic Forum, [online] https://www. weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/.
Gospodarka i entropia. Jak wyjść z polikryzysu?, red. J. Hausner, M. Krzykawski, Warszawa 2023.
Helleiner E., Economic Globalization’s Polycrisis, „International Studies Quarterly” 2024, vol. 68, no. 2, s. 1-11, https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqae024.
Homer-Dixon Th., Walker B., Biggs R., Crépin A.-S., Folke C., Lambin E.F., Peterson G.D., Rockström J., Scheffer M., Steffen W., Troell M., Synchronous Failure: The Emerging Causal Architecture of Global Crisis, „Ecology and Society” 2015, vol. 20, no. 3, http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07681-200306.
Hupkens J., Neuhold C., Vanhoonacker S., One Crisis Is Not Like Another: Exploring Different Shades of Crisis in the EU, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 252-262, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7349.
Jacobs M., After Neoliberalism: Economic Theory and Policy in the Polycrisis, „The Political Quarterly” 2024, vol. 95, no. 598-611, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13363.
Jayasuriya K., Polycrisis or Crises of Capitalist Social Reproduction, „Global Social Challenges Journal” 2023, vol. 1, s. 203-211, https://doi.org/10.1332/KNJY6381.
Kuhlmann S., Franzke J., Peters N., Dumas B.P., Institutional Designs and Dynamics of Crisis Governance at the Local Level: European Governments Facing the Polycrisis, „Policy Design and Practice” 2024, vol. 7, no. 1, s. 409-429, https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2024.2344784.
Lawrence M., Homer-Dixon Th., Janzwood S., Rockstöm J., Renn O., Donges J.F., Global Polycrisis: The Causal Mechanisms of Crisis Entanglement, „Global Sustainability” 2024, vol. 7, no. 6, s. 1-18, https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2024.1.
Lawrence M., Janzwood S., Homer-Dixon Th., What Is a Global Polycrisis, Cascade Institute, IV 2022, [online] https://cascadeinstitute.org/technical-paper/what-is-a-globalpolycrisis/.
Lawrence M., Shipman M., Homer-Dixon Th., Introduction to Polycrisis Analysis: The Cascade Institute’s Framework for Polycrisis Analysis, Cascade Institute, 22 IV 2024, [online] https://cascadeinstitute.org/technical-paper/introduction-to-polycrisis-analysis-guide/.
Manson S.M., Simplifying Complexity: A Review of Complexity Theory, „Geoforum” 2001, vol. 32, no. 3, s. 405-414, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7185(00)00035-X.
McGregor S.L., Integral Leadership’s Potential to Position Poverty within Transdisciplinarity, „Integral Leadership Review” 2009, vol. 9, no. 2, s. 1-11.
McGregor S.L., Transdisciplinary Axiology: To Be or Not to Be, „Integral Leadership Review” 2011, vol. 10, no. 3, s. 1-21.
Moloney K., Billingsley G.J., Gyo Jeong B., Sanabria-Pulido P., Thornton T.E., Zeemering E., The Routledge Handbook on Crisis, Polycrisis, and Public Administration, New York 2025.
Morin E., Kern A.B., Ziemia – ojczyzna, przeł. T. Jekielowa, Warszawa 1998.
Natali D., Pavolini E., Terlizzi A., Multi-Level Governance Feedback and Health Care in Italy in the Aftermath of Covid-19, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 365-377, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7356.
Parmar I., Poly Crisis or Organic Crisis? The Crisis of the United States and the US-led World Order, „Economic and Political Weekly: A Journal of Current Economic and Political Affairs” 2023, vol. 58, no. 34.
Penner M., The Paradox of Polycrisis: Capitalism, History, and the Present, „Journal of History” 2023, vol. 58, no. 2-3, s. 152-166, https://doi.org/10.3138/jh-2022-0022.
Pillay D., The Global Economic Crisis and the Africa Rising Narrative, „Africa Development” 2015, vol. 40, no. 3, s. 60-64.
Polak A., Sutowski M., Skrzypek A., Europa będzie się wykuwać w kryzysach? Scenariusze integracji w czasach polikryzysu, Warszawa 2017.
Polycrisis And Long-Term Thinking, Reimagining Development In Asia And The Pacific Foresight Brief: UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP, [online] https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-09/UNDP-RBAP-POLYCRISIS-AND-LONGTERM-THINKING-2022.pdf.
Schramm L., Exit from Joint-decision Problems? Integration and Disintegration in the EU’s Recent Poly-crisis, „European Review of International Studies” 2020, vol. 7, no. 1, s. 2-27, https://doi.org/10.1163/21967415-bja10001.
Siddi M., Prandin F., Governing the EU’s Energy Crisis: The European Commission’s Geopolitical Turn and its Pitfalls, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 286-296, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7315.
Smaga P., Istota ryzyka systemowego, „Studia Ekonomiczne” 2014, nr 1, s. 36-63.
Smeets S., Beach D., The Institutional Ingredients of Polycrisis Management: Unpacking European Council’s Handling of the Energy Crisis, „Politics and Governance” 2023, vol. 11, no. 4, s. 275-285, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7345.
Speech by President Jean-Claude Juncker at the Annual General Meeting of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), European Commission, [online] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_16_2293.
Stark H., French Foreign Policy in the Age of Polycrisis, „Sicherheit und Frieden. Security and Peace” 2019, vol. 3.
Swilling M., Economic Crisis, Long Waves and the Sustainability Transition: An African Perspective, „Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions” 2013, vol. 6, s. 96-115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2012.11.001.
Swilling M., Greening Public Value: The Sustainability Challenge, [w:] Public Value: Theory and Practice, red. J. Benington, M.H. Moore, London 2011, s. 89-111.
Swilling M., So what Is So Unsustainable about the Global Economy?, „CME: Your SA Journal of CPD” 2012, vol. 30, no. 3, s. 68-71.
The European Union Beyond the Polycrisis? Integration and Politicization in an Age of Shifting Cleavages, Special Issue, „Journal of European Public Policy” 2019, vol. 26, no. 7.
Tooze A., Navigating the Poly-crisis: 2023 – Session 4 Keynote – Adam Tooze, YouTube, 28 IX 2023, [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5coEWMNcrk&t=2628s&ab_channel=ODI.
Tooze A., Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Economy, New York City 2021.
Tooze A., This Is Why ‘Polycrisis’ Is a Useful Way of Looking at the World Right Now, 7 III 2023, World Economic Forum, [online] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/polycrisis-adam-tooze-historian-explains/.
Tooze A., Welcome to the World of the Polycrisis, Financial Times, 28 X 2022, [online] https://www.ft.com/content/498398e7-11b1-494b-9cd3-6d669dc3de33.
Wong B.L.H., Nordström A., Piot P., Clark H., From Polycrisis to Metacrisis: Harnessing Windows of Opportunity for Renewed Political Leadership in Global Health Diplomacy, „BMJ Global Health” 2024, vol. 9, no. 4, s. 1-4, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015340.
Zeitlin J., Nicoli F., Laffan B., Introduction: The European Union Beyond the Polycrisis? Integration and Politicization in an Age of Shifting Cleavages, „Journal of European Public Policy” 2019, vol. 26, no. 7, s. 963-976, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1619803.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.