ABSTRACT
The Introduction sets out the main themes to be addressed in the book: a concern to re-think contemporary forms of political behaviour, as well as address the neglect of the concept of agency in this debate. I argue that in order to understand and recognise new and alternative forms of political participation we must address three related sets of issues: first, how we define ‘the political’; what is included or excluded from our definition and where we draw the boundaries. Second, I discuss the need for greater recognition of the relationship between the social and political, emphasising that the boundary between the two is porous rather than binary. Third, I make the case for moving beyond a focus on political outputs or impact. Instead, I suggest that activity can be political if it leads to a development in thought, or a political awakening for the individual in question. Such activity may lead to an output, or impact, but equally it may not.
