Elite Panic

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Elite panic is Rebecca Solnit’s term for the recurrent pattern in which authorities fear survivors as a source of disorder and therefore prioritize control over support [@solnit2009].

The term matters because it helps explain a persistent feature of disaster response: ordinary people often cooperate under pressure, while official actors anticipate looting, irrationality, and breakdown [@solnit2009]. That inversion shapes how institutions police movement, control information, and restrict unaffiliated relief.

Elite panic is not simply a bad judgment. It is a political response to unauthorized collective capacity. When survivors demonstrate self-organization, institutions organized around command often treat that capacity as illegitimate, embarrassing, or threatening.

StatePower on emsenn.net

Elite Panic