On 25 January 2019, the International Institute of Social Studies hosted an event for the launch of the book 'The Pedagogy of Economic, Political and Social Crises' by editors Prof. Bob Jessop and Dr. Karim Knio.
The presentations were made by editors of the book Bob Jessop and Karim Knio, and authors Des Gasper, Wil Hout and Jeff Handmaker. The book 'The Pedagogy of Economic, Political and Social Crises' is of relevance today when viewed in relation to the marked increase in crisis literature, which reflects growing awareness of crisis phenomena.
Responding to the mainstream literature, this edited collection makes several key innovations. It distinguishes between crises as event and crises as process, as well as crises as accidental events or as the result of system-generated processes. Crises that can be managed through established crisis-management routines from crises of crisis management.
The discussion further looked at how the symptomatology of crisis, i.e., the challenge of moving crisis symptoms to understanding underlying causes as a basis for decisive action. The book attempts to go beyond the cliché that crises are both threat and opportunity by distinguishing valid accounts of the origins and present nature of a crisis, from more speculative accounts of what potentially exists. And explores how crises can disorient conventional wisdom, thus provoking efforts to interpret and learn about crises and draw lessons after a crisis has ended.
