Today, we are immersed in narratives of crisis, from speeches of politicians, to media headlines, to broader public discussion. Campesi (2018: 197) defines crisis as:

Indeed, the etymology of crisis is ‘decision’, in the sense of a judgement, from the Greek ‘krisis’. The word first entered the English language as a medical term denoting the turning point in a disease, to be followed by recovery or death. Today's sense of crisis takes forms that are economic, social and political, and are often mutually reinforcing (Castells et al, 2018). Reflecting this, Britain's Conservative Party gained the largest number of votes in the 2010 general election – though not a majority – campaigning on the slogan of ‘Broken Britain’, and won the 2017 general election promising ‘strength’ and ‘stability’. Europe's ‘migrant crisis’ or ‘refugee crisis’ has been presented as the responsibility of those on the move and an existential problem for European societies. Britain's housing system, National Health Service (NHS), social care system and benefits system are also said to be in crisis.

For hooks (2014: 19), the contemporary sense of crisis is located in systems of domination and dehumanisation: