Towards a Reflexive Theory of Crisis

This article proposes a reflexive theory of the conceptions of capitalist crises. Reflexivity here entails acknowledging that the notions of crisis do not simply and transparently reflect its nature, but may themselves reflect upon the latter. Firstly, I study the productivity of the ways crises appear, and argue that the nature of a crisis is not pregiven. Then I introduce basic notions from the non-classical logic of the dialectical proposed by Deyan Deyanov, or what can be called an organon of the problematique of structures of mediation. Lastly, I apply the proposed theoretical construct in an analysis of the conditions for the appearance of today’s ecological crisis as a necessary, and not contingent, effect of the nature of capitalism.