AIM Framework glossary
Mimetic Crisis
Canonical definition
A mimetic crisis occurs when M-driven rivalry and contagion escalate to the point where institutions can no longer buffer conflict, A-floors start to erode, and violence or system breakdown becomes a live trajectory; the crisis trajectory is the patterned sequence of phases through which such a dynamic typically unfolds.
Explanation
Historically, mimetic crises show up as escalating status conflicts, polarisation, scapegoating, and eventually violence, especially when background A-security weakens and elites weaponise visibility. AIM treats this as a measurable process (rising wM, falling effective buffering, growing concentration of violence-enabling goods) that can be monitored and interrupted rather than as a mysterious “collapse.”
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct.