Law in an age of ‘permacrisis’

In 2022, Collins dictionary named ‘permacrisis’ the word of the year, which, as reported, described “the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation, and political instability.” Undoubtedly, the word encapsulated public feelings and perceptions of a long-term crisis, involving earlier experiences such as the 2008 banking crisis, the 2010 austerity program, the 2016 Brexit referendum and the pandemic years. Arguably, we are moving towards a situation marked by whole-system crisis, captured by the idea of ‘permacrisis’ or ‘poly-crisis’ with no sign of socio-economic resolution. Recalling Derrida recalling Shakespeare, our world seems truly ‘out of joint’.

This special issue seeks to address the role of law in an age of disjointedness and disruption, interrogating, in particular, the dominance of the value systems informing law and policy. Indeed, in the context of permacrisis, we are witnessing the emergence of authoritarian political parties and leaders bearing value systems antagonistic to the established order. Overall, the critical question is whether the endless crisis is engulfing the law and transforming established legal values. In a sense, the wider topic that this special issue is addressing concerns the existence of crisis jurisprudence.