In the Shadow of Polycrisis. Lived Experiences of Young People amidst Intersecting Crises

This presentation explores young people's experiences of living in times of multiple crises in the contexts of the global South and North. Polycrisis refers to interconnected and simultaneous crises. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have given rise to intersecting crises that have affected young people's everyday lives and visions for the future. In our study, we ask how young people aged 16-19 years in Finland and Morocco experience intersecting crises in their everyday lives. How do young people live with polycrisis and plan their future in the shadow of multiple societal crises?

The project brings together perspectives from sociology and empirical literature studies. Alongside qualitative interviews, we apply participatory reading group and creative writing methods. Due to the global nature of polycrisis, our analysis is based on a comparative qualitative research design in Finland and Morocco.

The concept of polycrisis has the potential to capture experiences related to living in the Anthropocene. Young people are growing up in different social environments than previous generations, whose experience was rather marked by a sense of hope for progress, democratization and advancement of human rights. While polycrises interrupt what were previously considered likely global future scenarios, its context also allows for the creation of new social imaginaries and a solidarity.

In the presentation, we examine young people's experiences of polycrisis through the perspectives of security (e.g. wars, violence, extremism) and belonging (e.g. racism, hate speech, polarization), based on fieldwork in Morocco and Finland. Fieldwork comprises reading groups, writing competitions, and qualitative interviews. The interdisciplinary analysis explores not just experiences of crisis, but also the possibilities for resilience, hope and solidarity.