ABSTRACT
Despite the prominence of participatory discourse in archival literature and practice, there is hardly any consensus of what a participatory archive is, even if a certain idea of the positive impacts of engaging with the world outside of archives unites different understandings. This chapter elaborates on different understandings of participation and explores what its dissimilar and sometimes contradictory frames of reference imply for the theory and practice of participatory archives in the digital age, seen from the perspective of Nordic archives professionals. The chapter focuses on user participation, and its relation to the societal role of archives, based on a review of earlier literature, exploring linkages between professionals’ perceptions of the rationale and impact of participation and their conceptualisation of the societal role of archives and archival institutions. While little so far suggests that participation and the purpose archives play in the society are in direct conflict, this chapter suggests that the current situation can be described in terms of an interregnum between two modus operandi – an older view of archives as fundamentally oriented towards government administration and academic historical research, and a new one of archives as a resource for citizens, managed with citizen input.
