ABSTRACT
To define participation, we can work from the explanation of Wenger (1998, 55): “My use of the term participation falls within common usage. It is therefore helpful to start with Webster’s definition: ‘to have or take a part or share with others (in some activity, enterprise, etc.)’. Participation refers to a process of partaking and also to the relations with others that reflect this process. It suggests both action and connection” (emphasis in original). Participation is a banal term that reflects the most ordinary of experiences. An individual cannot live without participating, without doing things, without acting in relation to others. This is true of any individual at any age. We cannot imagine someone not participating in anything, since participation is fundamental to social life. However, some uses of the term at least partly contradict the idea that social life and participation are inseparable. Participation thus becomes an important issue and a topic for debate.
