“More crises mean more civil rights are put at risk”

Olivier Borraz’s research is focused on how organisations handle crises and examine what happens to democracy when an increasing number of situations are treated as crises. This spring, he is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science at the Swedish Defence University.

Olivier Borraz is Professor at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and former Director of the Centre for the Sociology of Organisations at Sciences Po in Paris. As a sociologist, he has spent the last 20 years researching risk governance and regulation, as well as crisis preparedness and crisis management.

At the Swedish Defence University, he will collaborate with researchers working on crisis management, particularly on crisis anticipation and early warning signals.
“This is a way to learn from each other, exchange knowledge, and build new collaborations. I also hope to engage with doctoral students and to hold a seminar later this spring,” he says.

How organisations handle crises

His research explores how organisations prepare for crises, how crises are defined and managed, and how they impact organisations. He is also interested in what happens to democratic rules and procedures during crises and whether it is possible to manage crises more democratically.

“Today, an increasing number of situations are being defined as crises because they represent threats to organisations. In this context, crisis management has become a normalised approach to the management of such threats, which can sometimes be mundane or even hypothetical. Just look at the Paris Olympics last summer, which were governed as a crisis.”

The development is not unique to France and could, in the long run, undermine democratic systems, he argues.

“This way of governing, where crisis management becomes the default option, leads us as citizens to accept measures that restrict our civil rights. This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, the terrorist attacks and it happened again in connection with the Olympics in Paris.”

A citizen-centric perspective on crises

In recent years, his research has focused on crisis preparedness and the role of citizens during crises.
“For example, I’ve studied the French nuclear sector, volcanic eruption alerts on the island of Martinique in the French West Indies, and crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic and the numerous organisational adaptations that were introduced during that time.”

He argues that contrary to what authorities often assume, citizens frequently respond to crises rationally and with solidarity.

“This is a factor that is overlooked in crisis and disaster management — that people are capable of mobilising and organising themselves to handle crisis situations.”

Experiments in crisis preparedness

To study how decision makers act during crises, he intends to conduct empirical experiments on crisis preparedness.

“We work with simulations that place individuals in situations with many uncertainties to see how they respond. We aim to show that decision-makers tend to improvise and find new solutions rather than strictly follow established routines. The results of this work can hopefully benefit authorities in improving crisis preparedness,” he explains.

CrisisLab in Paris

He is also the founder of CrisisLab, a hub for research and education about crises and organisational adaptability. Its aim is to increase the visibility of crisis research and provide a platform for collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

“It’s meant to be a space where we can work together and bridge the gap between research and practice.”

Renew crisis management

Olivier Borraz hopes that his research will help renew how we think about crises — not viewing crisis management as a separate expertise detached from the normal operations of organisations but rather recognising that the answers to handling crises often lie within their routine activities.

He also wants to provide insights on how to manage crises without undermining democracy.

“How can we ensure that democracy is preserved even during crises? This question is becoming increasingly relevant as we see many states moving toward more authoritarian approaches when confronted with crisis situations. We need to involve decision-makers and share experiences of crisis management across countries,” he concludes.