The article asks how it is possible to conceptualize the ‘crisis of the social’, and how one can best understand the relationship between crisis and social change in global politics. In doing so, it draws on the notion of dislocation to conceptualize crisis as a lack, deficiency or failure in the social fabric. The theoretical approach builds on the work of the late political theorist Ernesto Laclau and his co-authored work with Chantal Mouffe. Two illustrative sections will develop the theoretical model further on the basis of four interrelated and mutually constitutive elements: sedimented practices and dislocation on the one hand, as well as antagonism and the institutionalization within a so-called imaginary on the other. On this basis of an in-depth theoretical analysis, the article will summarize some crucial aspects regarding the nexus between crisis and social change and their implications for the study of global politics.
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