Participation as Relational Space: A Critical Approach to Analysing Participation in Sustainability Research

Livia Fritz and Claudia R. Binder
Additional contact information
Livia Fritz: Swiss Mobiliar Chair in Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living, Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), Institute of Environmental Engineering (IEE), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), GR C1 455 (Bâtiment GR)—Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Claudia R. Binder: Swiss Mobiliar Chair in Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living, Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), Institute of Environmental Engineering (IEE), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), GR C1 455 (Bâtiment GR)—Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-29

Abstract: In the field of sustainability, scholars, and policy-makers herald the transformative power of participation in knowledge production. However, a discrepancy between these expectations and the limited understanding of the complex interactions constituting participation processes can be observed. With the aim of critically analysing these complex interactions, this paper develops a conceptual perspective on participation as a relational space which is formed in the interplay of structures and processes. This perspective is applied to the analysis of empirical literature in sustainability research, development research, and science and technology studies. The literature review guided by the proposed conceptualisation systematically draws together the rich experience with participation in knowledge production. Elements constituting participation spaces along the dimensions ‘structures’ and ‘actors’ are identified and discussed in relation to ‘processes’ of space-making: (i) (in)coherences with reference system, (ii) resources, (iii) timing, (iv) expectations, (v) mutual trust, and (vi) worldviews and values. Power relations are found to pervade the three dimensions. Enhanced conceptual-analytical clarity of the elements constituting participation spaces provides a differentiated basis for discussing the transformative power of participatory knowledge production. By stimulating reflexivity on the making of participation, this approach contributes to better understanding when spaces of participation have the capacity to become spaces of transformation.

Keywords: spaces of participation; critical studies of participation; power relations; co-production; transdisciplinary sustainability research; transformation; relational approaches (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2853/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2853/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:8:p:2853-:d:163255

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().