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Vasna2023

Vasna Ramasar

Senior lecturer

Vasna2023

Decolonising polycrisis : Southern perspectives on interlocking crises

Author

  • Kanchana Ruwanpura
  • Gustav Cederlöf
  • Vasna Ramasar

Summary, in English

This commentary argues that the concept of ‘polycrisis’ must be critically reoriented through a decolonial lens,
particularly about the global South, where overlapping crises have long been the norm. While ‘polycrisis’ has
become a buzzword among global economic and political elites, scholars have studied its relevance mainly for
the global North. Using the climate and debt crises as two entry points, we delineate how these crises interlock
in the global South, calling for the decolonisation of the political economy and global governance architectures.
Deeper theoretical development of polycrisis is required, informed by experiences in the global South. We
propose an agenda for geographers and critical scholars to (1) engage more rigorously with polycrisis as an
analytical tool, and (2) gain a more nuanced understanding of crisis narratives and crisis complexity from global
South experiences.

Department/s

  • Department of Human Geography

Publishing year

2025

Language

English

Pages

697-703

Publication/Series

Environment & Planning A

Volume

57

Issue

6

Document type

Journal article (comment)

Publisher

Pion Ltd

Topic

  • Environmental Studies in Social Sciences

Keywords

  • Polycrisis
  • Decolonise
  • Global South

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1472-3409