Managing Risks through Mundane Governance: Crisis Communication and the Making of Non-Incidents

Much of the crisis communication literature focuses on acute, high-profile events that draw public attention. Yet many organizations routinely manage situations with the potential for controversy that remain largely unnoticed. Building on Woolgar’s concept of mundane governance, which highlights how governance is enacted through ordinary, everyday technologies, this paper explores how ‘cold’ crisis situations are governed and communicated in ways that help them remain ‘cold.’ Focusing on the example of nuclear safety inspectors in the Netherlands responding to incidents that could, in principle, trigger public concern, this study examines how these routine practices are carried out, documented, and communicated in ways that reaffirm their status as unremarkable. This examination includes how these non-events are selectively picked up or ignored by residents and local media. The paper highlights how risk assessment reports, classification systems, and press releases operate as tools of mundane crisis governance, enacting forms of risk communication that help calibrate public concern and reassurance. In doing so, they contribute to maintaining a sense of safety. By applying the concept of mundane governance to crisis communication, the paper offers a fresh perspective on how organizations manage potential crises, and how governance is performed not only in moments of visible crisis, but also – and perhaps especially – in their absence.