Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to critically unpack the concept of participation, both in theory and in practice. It analyses the relation between decision making and citizen participation in the United States in the sixties. The book explicitly focuses on the political nature of participation, based on the conviction that participation implies that marginalized aspirations and needs are made visible and audible and lead to a renewed reflection over the public interest. It specifically discusses the role that technology and social media (can) play in the (participatory) design of this multitude. The book presents a critical engagement with the discourse on participation in order to avoid framing it as a mere tool or romanticizing it as the ultimate goal. It refers 16 articles that all discusses that democratic design experiments.