Participation and Democracy in the TwentyFirst Century City NonGovernmental Public Action

Debates on participatory tend to be abstract, with references to experiences in Athens over 2000 years ago. This book uses recent experience in participatory innovations at the city level to explore the practice of participation. Taking examples from Latin America and the UK it argues the case for revitalizing democracy through participation. Representative Democracy Is Considered By Many To Be In Crisis. However, Those Who Look To Participatory Democracy As An Alternative Tend To Rely On The Example Of Athens Over Two Thousand Years Ago. Since The End Of The Cold War, There Have Been Numerous Experiments At The City Level In Participation. This Book Is Based On Research In Six Cities, Three In Latin America Where The Framework For The Experiments Is Closer To Participatory Democracy, And Three In The Uk, Where It Is Closer To Participatory Governance. It Explores The Significance Of These Different Frameworks And Also The Practice Of Participation Which Emerges. The Book Argues That Participation Can Be The Basis For A Revitalised Democracy If We Are Prepared To See It As A Process Of Continuous Learning And Experimentation, Based On Equal Right To Take Part Rather Than Equal Right To Consent To Representation By Others. This Work Is Based On Research In Six Cities, Three In Latin America And Three In The Uk, To Explore The Significance Of Different Frameworks Of Democracy And Also The Practice Of Participation Which Emerges. It Argues That Participation Can Be The Basis For Democracy If We Are Prepared To See It As A Process Of Continuous Learning. Co-producing Knowledge: Critical Reflections On Researching Participation / J. Pearce -- Porto Alegre: Popular Sovereignty Or Dependent Citizens? / S. Baierle -- Porto Alegre: From Municipal Innovations To The Culturally Embedded Micro-politics Of (un)emancipated Citizens: The Case Of Rubbish Recyclers / Z. Navarro -- Caracas: The State And Peoples' Power In The Barrio / M. Lopez Maya -- Medellin: Participatory Creativity In A Conflictive City / O. Uran -- Manchester: Between The Grass Roots And City Hall: Participation In A Global City / J. Diamond And J. Pearce -- Bradford: Professionalised Participation In A Northern De-industrialised City / H. Blakey -- Salford: Beyond Parochialism: The Challenge Of Participation For Change In A Working Class City / D. Miller -- Participation As A Field Of Study And Practice: A Modest Contribution / J. Pearce. Edited By Jenny Pearce. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents......Page 6 List of Tables, Boxes and Photographs......Page 8 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations......Page 9 Preface......Page 10 Notes on Contributors......Page 14 1 Introduction......Page 26 2 Co-Producing Knowledge: Critical Reflections on Researching Participation......Page 59 3 Porto Alegre: Popular Sovereignty or Dependent Citizens?......Page 76 4 Porto Alegre: From Municipal Innovations to the Culturally Embedded Micro-Politics of (Un)Emancipated Citizens: The Case of Rubbish Recyclers......Page 101 5 Caracas: The State and Peoples' Power in the Barrio......Page 125 6 Medellín: Participatory Creativity in a Conflictive City......Page 152 7 Manchester: Between the Grassroots and City Hall: Participation in a Global City......Page 179 8 Bradford: Professionalised Participation in a Northern De-industrialised City......Page 205 9 Salford: Beyond Parochialism: The Challenge of Participation for Change in a Working Class City......Page 230 10 Conclusion: Participation as a Field of Study and Practice: A Modest Contribution......Page 254 C......Page 280 G......Page 282 M......Page 283 P......Page 284 R......Page 286 U......Page 287 W......Page 288 Photo Section......Page 16