Morin locates his discovery of von Foerster in California in 1969. In “Pour une crisologie” (1976), he uses a systemic and cybernetic approach to crisis. This encounter illuminates one strand of his intellectual development; it does not make cybernetics the sole source of his thought.
Read Morin’s interview ↗ · Read the 1976 text ↗Strand 1 · History of ideas
A genealogy made of several strands
Polycrisis thinking takes shape across several histories. Parallel timelines locate texts and research; sources then help qualify the connections between them.
Three chronologies that intersect
The dates below locate texts and research. They do not, by themselves, prove influence. Connections between strands are qualified after the timeline; word histories follow their own attestations on the Words and languages page.
Morin · crisis and planetary thought
- AutocritiqueA reflective return to his convictions.
- “Pour une crisologie”Crisis, uncertainty, regulation, and diagnosis.
- Terre-PatrieIntersolidarity of problems and crises; planetary crisis.
- La VoieRevisiting planetary crisis and the crisis of humanity.
Cybernetics and systems thinking
- Morin encounters von Foerster in CaliforniaMorin locates this encounter during his stay at the Salk Institute. Interview published in 2019 ↗
- Donella Meadows and colleaguesThe Limits to Growth models interactions among global factors. Club of Rome reference ↗
Formalization and current research
- 2023–2024Cascade InstitutePublication of its causal framework and an analysis guide for Global Polycrisis. Read the technical paper ↗
- 2023–2026Mikael Mesnil Duprat’s inquiryGenealogical research begun in 2023; version 1.1 published in 2026.
- Current proposalPolycrise MondialeA synthesis bringing frameworks into dialogue and developing the idea of second-order crisis.
From crisiology to planetary Polycrise
In “Pour une crisologie” (1976), Morin questions the notion of crisis itself: uncertainty in diagnosis, disrupted regulation, latent antagonisms, and possible outcomes of reorganization or regression. Crisis also becomes a problem of knowledge: which categories allow us to recognise and think it? Read the 1976 text ↗
In Terre-Patrie (1993), this inquiry expands to the inter-retroactions and intersolidarity of problems, antagonisms, and crises. “La Polycrise” names the vital problem formed by this complex solidarity. Planetary crisis places it within humanity’s condition on a shared Earth. These formulations are related, while their scope must be established from the passage cited.
In La Voie (2011), Morin revisits interdependent crises and develops the idea of a crisis of humanity that has yet to become humanity. The continuity across these texts is a documentable trajectory of thought; it does not make every formulation synonymous.
Systems strands in dialogue
This genealogy distinguishes contributions from cybernetics and systems dynamics. They meet around regulation, feedback, and interdependence while retaining distinct trajectories.
Models of limits and global dynamics form a distinct strand. Mikael Mesnil Duprat places them alongside the development of Morin’s planetary thinking. This comparison opens a genealogical question; similar themes alone do not establish direct influence.
Mikael Mesnil Duprat proposes a comparison between hyperobjects and the difficulty of thinking about phenomena that are extended, durable, and hard to grasp as a whole. This dialogue presents Morton neither as a historical source for Morin nor as a conceptual equivalent. It calls for a separate comparison of their objects, scales, and methods.
A contemporary genealogical inquiry
Mikael Mesnil Duprat began this research in 2023. Version 1.1, published in 2026, compares uses of the concept, translations, and intellectual contexts. It distinguishes word histories from histories of ideas.
This research exists in several versions. The French and English versions are not strictly identical: vocabulary and some formulations vary with the language. Reading them side by side shows that translation already involves research choices, since the available words shape what can be named, distinguished, and understood. Citations should identify the language, version, and date.
Read the editions on Zenodo, French version and Zenodo, English version.
The research also examines uses and antecedents in several languages, including Spanish-language occurrences studied from 1993 and a Chinese use from 1997. These findings should be read through their source, date, and context: the history of a lexical occurrence is distinct from the history of an idea and its theoretical formalisation.
It leads to a comparison of frameworks and then to the Polycrise Mondiale proposal. The framework comparison presents their status separately.
Identify and understand connections without oversimplifying them
Documented reference: an author’s citation can be established by locating the passage, edition, and context. Problem convergence: two inquiries may address related questions without a demonstrated direct relation. Genealogical reconstruction: an inquiry connects texts and states its criteria. This can be productive when it identifies which links are contemporary analysis rather than documented influence.
The genealogy brings several strands into dialogue. Morin develops an account of crisis and planetary intersolidarity. The Cascade Institute formalizes contemporary causal mechanisms. Polycrise Mondiale is Mikael Mesnil Duprat’s proposal bringing these contributions together and adding reflection on how crisis is known.
Verifiable markers
- 1976: Edgar Morin, “Pour une crisologie,” Communications, 25, pp. 149–163. Read the Persée text ↗
- 1993: Edgar Morin and Anne-Brigitte Kern, Terre-Patrie. Edition and page references should accompany quotations.
- 2022–2024: Cascade Institute publications on the definition and causal mechanisms of Global Polycrisis.
- 2023–2026: Mikael Mesnil Duprat’s genealogical inquiry, version 1.1 deposited with a DOI.
The preprint provides its protocol, corpora, and detailed conclusions. This page offers an editorial map for the argument, not a substitute for the paper.