The World Crisis

or is it a polycrisis?

Every week on my podcast now I say “The world is in a crisis it has not seen for 100 years.” There is a widespread feeling of crisis in the world right now: war, pandemic, economic shocks, rise and fall of great powers, political disorder, and upheavals in ideas. But what does world crisis really mean? What are the elements of this crisis? How has my thinking on this world crisis changed since I began The Burning Archive? What, in any case do we, largely powerless writers and readers, do about these history-shaking events?

I will address these questions over the three months in a series of fortnightly notes on the world crisis here on my sub-stack. I am treating these articles as thought experiments. I do not have fixed conclusions now. I will need to begin with fragmentary notes and uncertain impressions. I will test my own assumptions and look for new perspectives, and will be keen to hear your comments. It is in effect inviting you to witness my process of imaginative thought about the history of our times. These articles are for paid-subscribers only. But for the subsription you get to witness and comment on a book being written. Would you like to join me on this adventure in history?