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Ongoing Crisis or Persistent Risk? Theory at the Intersection of Multiple Extremes - Uni Freiburg

uni-freiburg.de

When crises never fully end, our frameworks for "crisis" versus "risk" collapse — twelve leading researchers are rebuilding the theory from scratch.

Crisis TheoryRisk SocietyComplexity TheoryNormal Accident Theory

Theory Briefing

  • Twelve leading risk and crisis researchers convened to challenge whether existing definitions of 'crisis' still hold in a world of overlapping emergencies.
  • The core question — is society in ongoing crisis or merely persistent risk? — exposes a fundamental gap in how social theory frames instability.
  • The intersection of multiple simultaneous extremes, like pandemics, climate events, and conflict, demands entirely new conceptual frameworks beyond classic crisis theory.