Overview article (PLA 58)

Overview article in: Participatory Learning and Action 58 Towards empowered participation: stories and reflections. Guest editors: Tom Wakeford and Jasber Singh.

To read the full table of contents please click on ‘More information’ above.

In 2007 the guest editors asked a range of participation practitioners and analysts to contribute to this issue of PLA based on the following logic: if participation continues to be ignored, suppressed or domesticated, we will not only fail to live up to the promise of participation, but will risk sacrificing some of the democratic gains made by our predecessors.

All our contributors have written about their practice in the belief that only by looking at the barriers to empowered participation, with an honest and self-evaluative approach, will practitioners be able to formulate strategies that stand a chance of making an impact on the scale necessary to address our various global crises.

Keywords: citizens juries, participatory budgeting, grassroots participation, gender, community activism.

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA, formerly PLA Notes) is the world's leading series on participatory learning and action approaches and methods. PLA publishes articles on participation aimed at practitioners, researchers, academics and activists. All articles are peer-reviewed by an international editorial board.