Global Polycrisis

Root Causes and Radical Alternatives
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-76478-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Rethinking Development

In an age of climate disruption, economic insecurity, technological acceleration, political fracture, and intensifying great-power rivalry, crises no longer arrive one at a time. Global Polycrisis offers a clear and compelling guide to the defining condition of our century: the convergence of multiple large-scale disruptions that interact, amplify one another, and defy conventional solutions.

Organized around eight interlocking domains—energy, economy, technology, Earth systems, food, ideology, mental health, and geopolitics—the book shows how ecological overshoot, precarity, social fragmentation, and militarized competition are not separate problems but expressions of a deeper systemic disorder. Each chapter pairs rigorous analysis with an experiential project that moves learning beyond abstraction, inviting readers to connect planetary-scale forces to everyday institutions, and personal lifestyle choices.

Ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in global studies, leadership, environmental studies, political economy, and related fields, this book also speaks to educators, practitioners, and serious readers seeking an accessible, ethically grounded framework for understanding a turbulent world.

Zielgruppe

Academic, General, Postgraduate, Professional Practice & Development, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Slimbach, Richard

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltpolitik, Umweltprotokoll
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Humangeographie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Geopolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gewalt und Diskriminierung: Soziale Aspekte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Globalisierung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Umwelt- und Gesundheitspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Folgen von Katastrophen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Entwicklungsstudien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Mapping the Global Polycrisis  Chapter 1. Energy: The Fossil Fuel Trap  Personal Discovery Project: “Beyond the Barrel”  Chapter 2. Economy: The Precarity Crisis  Community Immersion Project: “Beneath the Bargains”  Chapter 3. Technology: The Double-Edged Sword of Innovation  Community Immersion Project: “In Another World”  Chapter 4. Earth: The Unraveling of Ecosystems and Climate Stability  Personal Discovery Project: “Living Smaller”  Chapter 5. Food: The Hidden Toll of Industrialized Agriculture  Community Immersion Project: “Behind the Counter”  Chapter 6. Mental Health: The Inner Cost of a Disordered World  Personal Discovery Project: “Breaking the Spell”  Chapter 7. Ideology: The Stories We Live By  Personal Discovery Project: “The Ideology Within”  Chapter 8. Geopolitics: Empire, Competition, and Existential Risks  Community Immersion Project: “The Warrior’s Dilemma”  Conclusion: Polycrisis Pathways and Possibilities  Appendix A: Taxonomy of Interacting Systemic Risks in the Global Polycrisis  Appendix B: U.S. Military Interventions Since 1945

Über Autor(innen)

Richard Slimbach is Professor Emeritus of Global Studies at Azusa Pacific University and currently teaches in the Organizational Leadership program at Johns Hopkins University. His work explores how complex global systems shape human possibilities and how individuals and institutions can act ethically within those constraints to reduce unnecessary suffering and advance planetary flourishing. He is the author of Becoming World Wise and The Art of World Learning. He lives in Monrovia, California.