Rethinking Democracy in Times of Polycrisis

ABSTRACT Which forms of democracy are in crisis in a time of multiple and overlapping socio‐ecological crises, often referred to as the polycrisis era? This commentary engages with debates on the nature of contemporary democratic breakdown and the kinds of political practices required to address it. I argue that the democratic crisis of the polycrisis era should be understood not as the exhaustion of democracy per se but as the exhaustion of its liberal, anthropocentric and technocratic hegemonic form, and that democratic renewal therefore depends on building counter‐hegemonic, plural and more‐than‐human political narratives. In doing so, the commentary strengthens the case for rethinking democratic politics in times of polycrisis, particularly against critics who downplay the urgency or existential character of the current democratic crisis. In contrast to such scepticism, I align with scholars arguing that sustaining and renewing democracy is inseparable from confronting the political challenges posed by the polycrisis context.