Why do we still need participatory technology assessment?

The paper contributes to the current discussion on the role of participatory methods in the context of technology assessment (TA) and science and technology (S&T) governance. It is argued that TA has to be understood as a form of democratic policy consulting in the sense of the Habermasian model of a ??pragmatist?? relation of science and politics. This notion implies that public participation is an indispensable element of TA in the context of policy advice. Against this background, participatory TA (pTA) is defended against recent criticism of procedures of lay participation which states that pTA is lacking impact on S&T decision making, that pTA instead of opening S&T policies to new perspectives is used as a means to support mainstream S&T policy and that in pTA procedure the authentic lay perspective is systematically contorted by dominant expert knowledge.     

Lost in translation? The dilemma of alignment within participatory technology developments

As an instrument for participatory technology development, Scenario-Based Design offers significant potential for an early inclusion of future users. Over the course of a 3-year research project, this method was examined as a procedure for participatory technology development. Methods and instruments aimed at achieving a potential user??s participation, and the resulting cooperation of heterogeneous social groups can be seen as translation tools. Their purpose is to act as translators between different social fields and the specific knowledge associated with them. These translation capabilities and participatory methods should result in the best possible convergence of different orientations and purposes. In this paper, attempting to achieve the best possible convergence is described as a dilemma of alignment. Several approaches will be used to describe the dynamic of the alignment dilemma within the above-mentioned project. The reconstruction follows one question that is proposed as a heuristic pattern to meet the requirements of an accurate analysis of holistic participatory methods: Who or what has to adjust to whom or what, why, when, and in which way? The main conclusions include the finding that the alignment dilemma is not equally balanced, that the agency of epistemic objects within the process has to be captured, and that it is easy for translation??provided primarily by core instruments of the participatory method used??to begin to overwrite the needs and purposes of one social group with the interests and orientations of another.     

From invited to uninvited participation (and back?): rethinking civil society engagement in technology assessment and development

In recent years, citizens?? and civil society engagement with science and technology has become almost synonymous with participation in institutionally organized formats of participatory technology assessment (pTA) such as consensus conferences or stakeholder dialogues. Contrary to this view, it is argued in the article that beyond these standardized models of ??invited?? participation, there exist various forms of ??uninvited?? and independent civil society engagement, which frequently not only have more significant impact but are profoundly democratically legitimate as well. Using the two examples of patient associations and environmental and consumer organizations in the field of nanotechnology, it is illustrated that interest-based civil society interventions do play an important role in the polycentric governance of science and technology. In conclusion, some implications for the activities of TA institutions and the design of novel TA procedures are outlined.     

Technoscientia est Potentia?

Within the realm of nano-, bio-, info- and cogno- (or NBIC) technosciences, the ??power to change the world?? is often invoked. One could dismiss such formulations as ??purely rhetorical??, interpret them as rhetorical and self-fulfilling or view them as an adequate depiction of one of the fundamental characteristics of technoscience. In the latter case, a very specific nexus between science and technology, or, the epistemic and the constructionist realm is envisioned. The following paper focuses on this nexus drawing on theoretical conceptions as well as empirical material. It presents an overview of different technoscientific ways to ??change the world????via contemplation and representation, intervention and control, engineering, construction and creation. It further argues that the hybrid character of technoscience makes it difficult (if not impossible) to separate knowledge production from real world interventions and challenges current science and technology policy approaches in fundamental ways.     

Youth Participation in U.S. Contexts: Student Voice Without a National Mandate

Unlike the United Kingdom and other nations that mandate youth participation to some degree, U.S. policies instead tend to inhibit child participation rather than encourage it. Given these policy contexts, it can be challenging to locate spaces where robust opportunities for democratic participation and student voice exist. We use this article as an opportunity to examine the disciplinary, philosophical and methodological approaches that have framed youth participation in youth contexts. We conclude by identifying critical issues of citizenship and belonging that must be considered in participatory research.     

A theory of income taxation where politicians focus upon core and swing voters

We construct an equilibrium model of party competition, in which parties are especially concerned with their core and swing voters, concerns which political scientists have focused upon in their attempts to understand party behavior in general elections. Parties compete on an inifinite-dimensional space of possible income-tax policies. A policy is a function that maps pre-fisc income into post-fisc income. Only a fraction of each voter type will vote for each party, perhaps because of issues not modeled here or voter misperceptions of policies. Each party??s policy makers comprise two factions, one concerned with maximizing the welfare of its constituency, or its core, and the other with winning over swing voters. An equilibrium is a pair of parties (endogenously determined), and a pair of policies, one for each party, in which no deviation to another policy will be assented to both its core and swing factions. We characterize the equilibria: they have the property that both parties propose identical treatment of a possibly large interval of middle-income voters, while the ??left?? party gives more to the poor and the ??right?? party more to the rich. An empirical section uses the data of Piketty and Saez on taxation in the US to assess the model??s predictions. We argue that the model is roughly confirmed.     

Forward-looking activities: incorporating citizens’ visions

Looking back on the many prophets who tried to predict the future as if it were predetermined, at first sight any forward-looking activity is reminiscent of making predictions with a crystal ball. In contrast to fortune tellers, today??s exercises do not predict, but try to show different paths that an open future could take. A key motivation to undertake forward-looking activities is broadening the information basis for decision-makers to help them actively shape the future in a desired way. Experts, laypeople, or stakeholders may have different sets of values and priorities with regard to pending decisions on any issue related to the future. Therefore, considering and incorporating their views can, in the best case scenario, lead to more robust decisions and strategies. However, transferring this plurality into a form that decision-makers can consider is a challenge in terms of both design and facilitation of participatory processes. In this paper, we will introduce and critically assess a new qualitative method for forward-looking activities, namely CIVISTI (Citizen Visions on Science, Technology and Innovation; www.civisti.org), which was developed during an EU project of the same name. Focussing strongly on participation, with clear roles for citizens and experts, the method combines expert, stakeholder and lay knowledge to elaborate recommendations for decision-making in issues related to today??s and tomorrow??s science, technology and innovation. Consisting of three steps, the process starts with citizens?? visions of a future 30?C40?years from now. Experts then translate these visions into practical recommendations which the same citizens then validate and prioritise to produce a final product. The following paper will highlight the added value as well as limits of the CIVISTI method and will illustrate potential for the improvement of future processes.     

Participation in the city: where do women fit in?

Women's priorities have often been ignored in the design of human settlements, the location of housing, and the provision of urban services. New forms of urban partnership are needed to develop participatory processes which include women and men at all stages of urban development. Participation is most commonly associated with political participation or activity. The author gives an overview of the "gendered city", then looks at how men and women benefit and contribute to urban life, through examples of opportunities for making a living and for using urban resources and services. She then moves away from participation as entitlement to consider participation as empowerment, looking at some problems faced by women in public office and grassroots organizations. The paper concludes in arguing that a gender perspective will not inform urban policy and planning processes automatically. Sections discuss gender and poverty in the city, making a living in the city, urban planning as a gender issue, getting around the city, access to resources and services, violence in the city, women's participation in urban governance, women's representation in public office, community organization and advocacy, men and gender issues, and forging linkages through participation.     

Agricultural Strategy Development in West Africa: The False Promise of Participation?

Participatory approaches are an increasingly prominent technique for designing agricultural strategies in sub‐Saharan Africa. However, they are frequently criticised for either not involving enough stakeholders or limiting the scope of their participation. This article concludes from a study of the situation in West Africa that a lack of broad‐based participation in these strategies is not a major problem; rather, the real challenge lies in transforming the outcomes of participatory processes into policies that can be feasibly implemented. It highlights why an emphasis on participation can sometimes result in disappointment amongst stakeholders and discusses a range of measures to help overcome this dilemma.     

Self-work and social change: disindividualised participation amongst young Australian Buddhist practitioners

Recent work on youth participation has mobilised a ‘DIY’ or ‘individualised’ framework to explain the nature of contemporary participation, particularly amongst minoritised religious youth. This paper examines this conceptual framework in light of concurrent claims that contemporary participation can be better conceptualised using a ‘doing it with others’ (DIWO) approach, which emphasises the collaborative nature of participation. In light of these claims, I analyse the participation experiences of 22 young adult Buddhist practitioners who are located within a neo-liberal Australian context, yet simultaneously have access to religious teachings and practices which challenge distinct notions of selfhood. This paper shows that both ‘DIY’ and ‘DIWO’ conceptions of participation find expression in the participation experiences of participants from the study, and that both DIY and DIWO approaches can additionally be seen as mutually reinforcing rather than distinctly contrasting. I propose a new concept of ‘disindividualisation’, suggesting that Maffesoli's concept of ‘disindividuation’ and Elias's work linking psychological development and social change should be considered in conjunction with an individualised or DIY perspective on youth participation to denote this kind of participatory work.     

Embracing the complexity of policy processes in sanitation: Insights from India

Different stakeholders tried participatory approaches to boost progress in rural sanitation in India. The policy processes around these experiences, despite shaping their outcomes, remain a knowledge gap this article addresses. Evidence shows that the interests of the actors involved resulted in the national campaign being focused on construction. Therefore, participatory approaches could only be successfully introduced through networks with political champions at their centre. Moreover, political dynamics determined the success of the different introduction strategies. A better understanding of these policy processes, using analytical frameworks such as the one we propose, will lead to smarter influencing strategies in the sanitation sector.     

From products to publics? The potential of participatory design for research on youth,safety and well-being

This paper considers how ‘participation’ features as a key concept in contemporary approaches to research, policy and interventions to promote young people's experiences of safety and well-being in digital society. In particular, it examines the potential of participatory design (PD) methodology as a way of expressing, surfacing and supporting engagement with youth perspectives in research and design projects. In doing so, we explore how the language, materials and processes of a PD approach can help reconfigure the aims of research beyond the production of ‘products’ towards fostering ‘youth-inclusive publics’. Drawing on the concept of ‘infrastucturing’ and ‘attachments’ [Le Dantec, C. A., and C. DiSalvo. 2013. “Infrastructuring and the Formation of Publics in Participatory Design.” Social Studies of Science 43 (2): 241–264. doi:10.1177/0306312712471581], the paper reflects on an Australian research project to develop online campaigns to promote youth safety and well-being in digital society. From our analysis emerged three commitments of PD with young people that help articulate, make visible and unpack ‘attachments’ to concepts of youth, technology and well-being and provide new opportunities for engagement with youth experience in research and intervention design. We find that these commitments – the embodiment of context; the enactment of creativity and the emergence of connectivity – offer novel insights on youth participation in complex research projects. Moreover, foregrounding these commitments through PD can build shared vocabularies, artefacts and processes of engagement with young people in research projects focused on youth safety and well-being.     

Fostering transnational dialogue: Lessons learned from women peace activists

Abstract

Given the incredible diversity of the anti-globalization movement, developing inclusive and participatory spaces is an enormous challenge. Inequities in power, resources, and experience between Northern and Southern activists are of particular concern to a movement that values democratic participation. Dialogue is seen as a critical new way of addressing conflicts within the movement. For three decades, women's organizations dealt with similar issues at the UN World Conferences on Women. It was not until the 1990s that a global women's movement emerged. This paper, which is based on a qualitative study of women's peace organizations gathered at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in 1995, addresses the development of positive coalition dynamics. The focus on individual activist stories fills in gaps left by studying organizations as units of analysis or on transnational movements as a whole. My research shows that if transnational activists use constructive approaches, conflict can assist in building coalition dynamics necessary for effective and equitable cooperation. I conclude that a commitment to respond to conflict in a constructive manner is as important for coalition building as formal processes or mechanisms that foster dialogue.     

The limits of participatory democracy and the inclusion of social movements in local government

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the decentralisation of decision-making processes in local government. Empirically, I analyse how Brazilian housing movements are included in participatory processes by examining the ways in which participatory models integrate social movements in spaces of decision-making. I argue that the rules and focus on incremental policy-making limits the participation of social movements. Findings suggests that unequal power structures at local councils, barriers to the participation of citizens, and the lack of transparency of government decisions all prevent social movements from having a more influential voice in decision-making. Although previous studies in Brazil examined the integration of citizens in government institutions, this paper contributes to the literature in two ways: firstly, it provides new evidence on the impact of decentralisation in local government. Secondly, by examining the attitudes of housing council members towards popular political participation, it provides new insights into the limits of decentralisation and participatory governance in contemporary Brazil.     

Deliberative Democracy and the Paradox of Participation

Citizen involvement and participatory governance have been adopted as essential components of urban development policies in many countries. For instance, participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre was successful in mobilizing and empowering poor people. However, in many cases, participation is merely a buzzword which often leads to co‐optation. In this article, we propose an explanatory model of participatory governance for making comparative analyses and compare participatory budgeting in the 1990s in Brazil with the Japanese community policy of the 1970s. Based on this, our analysis identifies the paradox of participation and the importance of gatekeeping functions. As a consequence of enhanced citizen participation, the power of the bureaucratic administration becomes dominant unless politicians and the legislature retain their autonomy in decision‐making. If the gatekeeping functions of involvement and decision‐making are monopolized by the administrative body urban development is de‐politicized, which, in turn, leads to co‐optation by government and exclusion. It is important to retain the function of politics to deepen democracy through citizen participation in urban development.     

Developing Children's Participation: Lessons from a Participatory IT Project

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, advances in the sociology of childhood and the consumer rights movement have placed the spotlight on children's rights in society, challenging those working with children to examine how they share power and ensure that children's views are taken on board. While childrens’ service practitioners are broadly supportive of the concept of participation and there are numerous examples of how children's participation has been realised in practice, many are unsure where to begin due to the range of options, considerations and challenges associated with participatory work. This article describes and analyses the process used by Barnardos in developing and implementing a participatory approach in a children's IT project in Galway City, Ireland. The process employed, the challenges encountered and the added value the participatory approach brought to the project are outlined. Finally, four broad lessons emerging from the experience are discussed, namely, that a clear framework and reflective practice is valuable that good participatory work is inextricably linked with good project management; that small efforts at participatory work can increase capacity and appetite for further work; and that there is a role for informal approaches in the context of a formal participatory framework. © 2006 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2006 National Children's Bureau.     

Seeking good governance in participatory-GIS: a review of processes and governance dimensions in applying GIS to participatory spatial planning

The adoption of participatory spatial planning (PSP) approaches has been partially supported by developments in participatory-GIS (P-GIS), as seen in applications both in local resource management in developing South countries, and in community neighbourhood planning in the urban North. Such applications provide a basis for examining the relationship between the use of geo-information and governance, as many P-GIS initiatives claim to foster accountability, transparency, legitimacy and other dimensions of governance. Examples from recent literature illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of utilising P-GIS, and in particular, the implications for greater participation, empowerment, and ownership of and access to spatial information, and for governance in general. Some new developments in GIS technology, like ‘mobile-GIS’, have the potential to strengthen these impacts. While P-GIS is not an essential component of PSP, if used with an adequate regard and sensitivity for issues of ownership, legitimacy and local knowledge, it can contribute to the empowerment of communities in solving spatial planning problems.     

Why not ask them? Mapping and promoting youth participation

Recent policy frameworks for addressing the well-being of young people have increasingly adopted a prevention framework that emphasises age-relevant support, a social inclusion approach, targeted assistance for the most disadvantaged, and more avenues for the voices of young people. However, despite the increased policy commitments to youth consultation and participation, there is confusion about the operational implications of such commitments, and implementation across different program areas has been patchy. This paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding the various forms of youth participation, ranging from information exchange to more open and self-managed participation; and the associated rationales for various forms of participation. It is argued that there are three main rationales for greater voice and participation of young people across a variety of institutional settings and policy areas. First is the argument that young people have the right to be nurtured, protected and treated with respect, and where appropriate be involved and consulted. Secondly, it is argued that improvement of services for young people requires their views and interests to be well articulated and represented. Thirdly, it is asserted that there are developmental benefits arising from participation, for both the individuals themselves and for civil society as a whole.     

Deliberate or Emancipate? Civil Society Participation in Trade Policy: The Case of the CARIFORUM–EU EPA

At both the multilateral and regional levels, there have been efforts to address the democratic deficit in trade negotiations. One such example is the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific group of countries where civil society participation was enshrined in the Cotonou Agreement. Yet, the CARIFORUM–EU EPA attracted much criticism from civil society. The paper argues that civil society failed to affect the outcome of the EPA because they participated in the process within a deliberative democratic framework which did not allow for emancipation or a challenge to global economic power and structural considerations in the negotiations; neither did it achieve citizen empowerment and ownership. We advocate the practice of participatory democracy in trade policy decision making—an ideal space for citizen participation—the former holding greater promise for influencing the trade policy agenda.     

Marriage Caretaking and Territorial Justice in an Australian State

Australian Marriage Guidance Councils are rarely considered avant garde. Yet contemporary emphasis on the importance of citizen participation in social service delivery programmes¹ unexpectedly shows them in the vanguard of the new art of mobilizing participatory community services. For more than a quarter of a century now they have been operating as expert guides and counsellors in the difficult territory of marital therapy, mainly using staffs of part-time counsellors drawn from the general community. The magnitude of this feat of maintaining the participatory character of this community service in a potentially rich field for professional exploitation goes largely unacknowledged. It has been pointed out that the professional, “because of his status, commitment and knowledge”,² is in most cases successful in converting citizen participation programmes into the service of his own professional interest. This has always been one of the most intractable problems of any participatory scheme. So far the Marriage Guidance Councils have stayed right on top of this problem.