1st Edition
Global Polycrisis Root Causes and Radical Alternatives
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
Biography
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.
“This timely book explains how today’s polycrisis isn’t a mere coincidence of problems but a systemic condition of deeply entangled global stresses and crises. For students bewildered by our century’s turbulence, it offers conceptual clarity, practical exercises, and the moral inspiration they’ll need to identify and pursue possibilities of transformative change.”
Thomas Homer-Dixon, Executive Director, Cascade Institute; author of Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril“An astute, thoughtful, empathetic observer of global affairs, Richard Slimbach weaves practical and academic knowledge into a compelling story of the polycrisis we all face in the 21st century. Can humanity overcome these mutually reinforcing crises that threaten to destroy us? Slimbach is not sure, but he explains why we have no choice, and he gives us a sense of direction.”
Roland Hoksbergen, PhD, co-editor of Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy, USA
“Global Polycrisis is a lucid, morally urgent guide to a world shaped by converging ecological, economic, technological, and political crises. By linking rigorous diagnosis with humane alternatives, Slimbach offers a rare synthesis of practical wisdom and grounded hope for disorienting times.”
Azza Karam, PhD., Professor; President, Lead Integrity NY; Director, Kahane United Nations Program, Diplomacy and World Affairs Faculty, Occidental College, LA
“Every college student—regardless of field of study—should be assigned this book, which aims to help them navigate the perplexing and often frightening social, ecological, and political context in which their adulthood will be spent. Studded with examples and questions for reflection, Global Polycrisis uses systems thinking to evoke understandings that conventional didactic prose struggles to convey. The book is also ideal for policy makers and academics of all disciplines. Highly recommended.”
Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, co-author, Welcome to the Great Unraveling
“This is the most accessible introduction to "polycrisis"—a new concept signifying the complex intersection of economic, ecological, technological, social, and political breakdowns. Drawing on complexity theory, Slimbach explains expertly how these interacting and cascading shocks to the global system have emerged as humanity's greatest challenge yet. Ideal for both students and scholars across the social sciences and humanities, Global Polycrisis also provides a much-needed vision of alternative planetary futures. Not to be missed!”
Dr. Manfred B. Steger, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Sociology, University of Hawai'i-Mānoa
