Keynote by Franziska Kößler¹
¹ Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
TIME: Wednesday, 15 July, 09:00 – 10:00
Location: HS1
Session: Keynote 4
Abstract
The term polycrisis has entered public discourse and scientific literature to describe interacting, linked, and cascading crises. Over the last two decades, such crises have affected societies, organizations, and individuals with increasing visibility. Common individual responses have been to increase financial security, invest in insurance, and strengthen protective measures. While understandable, these responses rarely address the structural causes of crisis. Worse, they may intensify competition over already scarce resources. Neither polycrises nor struggles over resources are new. What is equally old is the pattern that crises hit those with the least power and resources hardest. This keynote develops a critical psychology perspective on crisis by examining how work and organizations create, distribute, and stabilize unequal vulnerabilities. It starts from a materialist perspective on the theft of economic power, introduced through the narrative structure of a true crime story. From there, it turns to the employment–health dilemma: a situation in which workers with restricted job choices must choose between accepting health-threatening work and risking economic insecurity. This dilemma also offers opportunities for critical reflection on the field of Work and Organizational Psychology which has often centered those privileged enough to choose between attractive jobs, while paying less attention to those whose choices are constrained by qualification, migration status, care responsibilities, or economic necessity. The keynote then extends this perspective to two application fields – algorithmic management and migration. As highlighted by boundary violations, workers are increasingly monitored, controlled, and disciplined by algorithms. When these invisible managers act in the context of precarious employment, workers frequently seem to push themselves voluntarily beyond physical, psychological, and value-based limits. Additionally, the keynote examines how crisis dynamics intersect with migration, diversity, and marginalization. Evidence from temporary agency work shows how job insecurity changes emotional responses to workplace incivility, weakening anger and strengthening sadness. Findings from retail workers further illustrate how social stressors and resources can interact in complex and sometimes counterintuitive ways with minority status. Together, these examples show that crises are not merely external shocks to organizations. They are also produced, normalized, and reproduced through everyday work arrangements. The keynote concludes by asking what role Work and Organizational Psychology can play in resolving or ameliorating polycrisis. Going back to the starting point (i.e., the theft of economic power), the keynote questions the apolitical norm of psychology, calling for a reflective stance that allows us to confront power and inequalities in workplaces.
Bio
Franziska J. Kößler is an assistant professor for ‘Psychology, in particular the Transformation of the World of Work’ at Leuphana University Lunenburg. In line with her PhD on migration and work-related health, her research interests include social inequalities, work-related health, and economic stressors. She has been a member of several international collaborations (e.g., the Future of Work and Organizational Psychology), won grants (e.g., by the German Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Federal Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) that allowed her to follow her research interests, and advocates for equality (e.g., as liaison professor at Hans-Böckler Foundation).