Ambivalence and Agonism of Public Participation in Contemporary Societies

Abstract

In this editorial we introduce the thematic issue “Public Participation Amidst Hostility: When the Uninvited Shape Matters of Collective Concern.” The aim of this issue is twofold. First, it takes stock of various ways in which public participation can be hindered, directly and indirectly. Second, it investigates different kinds of participatory practices that emerge in situations of hostility towards public participation. Given that participation in such situations often involves working around formal procedures and public spaces and depends on remaining hidden, particular attention is paid to de‐publicised participatory practices. Overall, the articles in this thematic issue show how hostilities co‐develop with specific participatory practices that, in turn, attune to, navigate, and resist the particular (hostile) circumstances in which they arise. The articles draw attention to the ambivalence and, in some cases, agonistic quality of participatory processes in contemporary societies, where mutually constitutive relations between participation and hostilities towards it shape matters of collective concern, political agendas, and possible futures.