ABSTRACT
Studies of the professionalization of public participation have given relatively little attention to the role of academics in the evolution of the profession, and even less to collaborations between academics and practitioners in building and legitimizing the field. This chapter draws on fourteen interviews with academics, practitioners, and academic-practitioners to examine how professional pressures and cultures shape collaboration around deliberative democratic citizen involvement exercises and sometimes lead to conflicting approaches. It explores how collaborations can be structured so that friction leads to learning in contexts where professionals may otherwise be hived in by routine.
