As France experiences a new wave of political turbulence, Étienne Ollion, sociologist at CREST-CNRS and École Polytechnique, has been invited by several major European media outlets to help make sense of the current situation.

Over the past week, he has shared his insights on Radio France’s Questions du Soir, Austria’s Ö1 – Europa Journal, Denik N in the Czechia, and Politiken, one of Denmark’s leading newspapers. All of them turned to him to better understand how French institutions and public opinion are reacting to the latest government resdhuffle and budget debates.

Throughout these interviews, Étienne Ollion offers a sociologist’s perspective on the moment: how political uncertainty connects to deeper transformations in the evolution of party systems, and how current responses are out of sync with citizens’ expectations of public action.

He notes that France’s tripolar political landscape, divided between the presidential camp, the left, and the far right, has made coalition-building and compromise increasingly difficult in Parliament.

On Ö1 – Europa Journal, Austria’s leading public radio channel for culture and information, he explained that the rapid turnover of governments reflects not only political tensions but also “a deeper transformation of democratic life, where citizens expect more responsiveness and clarity from public action, and a wider role in the making of the nation”.

In Denik N, he pointed to growing frustration across social groups and a steady decline in confidence toward political representatives. And on France Culture, during a debate asking “Can France still be governed?”, he discussed the ways out of the political stalemate.

In Politiken, he provided international readers with context on how France’s political structures and social expectations interact in this volatile moment.

These interventions are closely linked to Étienne Ollion’s research on political representation and the evolution of elites. In his book The Candidates (Oxford Press, 2024), he studied how newcomers to politics navigate institutions and hierarchies, shedding light on the renewal and professionalization of political life. His more recent work, Une étrange victoire. L’extrême droite contre la politique (Seuil, 2024, with Michaël Foessel), explores the underpinnings of the rise of the far-right, between the growing opposition to democratic representation, a changing media landscape, and the new communication strategy of its main party, the National Rally.

At CREST, he develops research using computational methods to analyse public debate and political representation. This mix of empirical study, institutional knowledge, and data-driven analysis makes him a valuable voice for understanding the forces currently reshaping French democracy.

Le 26 mai 2025, la Défenseure des droits a rendu une décision (n°2025-086) concernant les travailleurs et travailleuses de la plateforme de micro-travail française. Cette décision s’appuie largement sur les résultats d’un travail de recherche mené par Paola Tubaro (CNRS-CREST), Antonio Casilli (Télécom Paris) et Juana Torres-Cierpe (Inria), dans le cadre du programme DiPLab.

Lien vers la décision : Décision n°2025-086 – Défenseur des droits

Un travail collectif pour mieux comprendre et faire reconnaître les discriminations

Pendant plusieurs années, l’équipe de recherche a enquêté sur les conditions de travail dans le micro-travail : « Il s’agit de petites tâches effectuées en ligne, souvent rémunérées de manière minimale : classification d’images, transcription de textes, traduction […] principalement utilisées pour alimenter des algorithmes et des solutions d’intelligence artificielle ».

Leur rapport met en lumière des réalités peu visibles :

• Des conditions souvent précaires,
• Des travailleurs et travailleuses exposés à des formes de discrimination (par l’algorithme, par les clients, ou par la plateforme elle-même),
• Une majorité de femmes, souvent en situation de grande vulnérabilité économique et sociale.

Dans le cas étudié, les règles d’accès à la plateforme excluaient certains profils, notamment en fonction du pays de résidence, ce qui soulève des questions importantes au regard du droit.

Une recherche à fort impact sociétal

Cette affaire montre que la recherche peut avoir un véritable impact hors du monde académique. Grâce à ce travail rigoureux et engagé, la Défenseure des droits a pu prendre une décision fondée, qui servira à mieux encadrer les pratiques des plateformes numériques, et à protéger celles et ceux qui y travaillent.

C’est aussi une belle reconnaissance pour Paola Tubaro, Antonio Casilli et Juana Torres-Cierpe, qui prouvent une fois encore que les sciences sociales ont un rôle essentiel à jouer dans les débats contemporains.

Pour aller plus loin

Rapport complet : Discriminations et vulnérabilités dans les plateformes de micro-travail françaises
Projet DiPLab : diplab.eu

Paola Tubaro, CNRS Research Director at CREST, recently participated in the Nuit des Idées (Night of Ideas) held at the iconic Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. This international event, organized by the Institut français d’Argentine and its partners, brings together thinkers, artists, and researchers to engage in public discussions on contemporary challenges.

During the event, Tubaro spoke about the often-overlooked human labor behind artificial intelligence systems. She emphasized the critical role of micro-workers who perform essential tasks such as data labeling and content moderation, enabling AI technologies to function effectively. Tubaro highlighted the precarious conditions these workers often face, including low wages, invisibility, and a lack of rights or recognition.

In a follow-up interview with Clarín, one of Argentina’s leading newspapers, she delved deeper into the topic. She described these workers as “neo-laborers of the algorithm,” performing countless “microtasks” for platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk—often during their free time, with few protections and little public awareness of their role. Tubaro called for greater transparency, fairer conditions, and the ethical recognition of their contribution to technological progress.

Her reflections contribute to a broader understanding of the social and economic infrastructures behind AI systems, urging policymakers and the public to account for the real human costs behind digital automation.