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The Participant's Dilemma: Bringing Conflict and Representation Back In

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  • DEBBIE BECHER

Abstract

Innovations in democratic participation involving small‐scale, long‐term focused governing bodies have increased citizen influence in poor American urban neighborhoods. Scholars have described these emerging forms of participation as essentially cooperative in spirit and directly democratic in nature. I argue that the new participatory regimes continue to involve social processes of representation and conflict inherent to more traditional forms of engagement. Participants move dynamically between cooperation and conflict and between participating as individuals and representing constituencies. This article presents a careful study of how a single decision developed and was implemented in such a participatory experiment, the American Street Empowerment Zone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, between 1994 and 2008. Archival and interview data support the general perspective shared by articles in this symposium — that participation involves dynamic movement between conflict and cooperation. This article suggests that the durability of the participatory regime depends not on the level of conflict but on how participants move between displaying identification with either government or their community constituents. This article uses the concept of intermediation to describe this kind of dynamism and to reflect the flexibility a participatory structure must nurture to endure. Résumé Les innovations en matière de participation démocratique qui impliquent des organes de gouvernement œuvrant à petite échelle et à long terme ont accru l'influence des habitants dans les quartiers urbains pauvres américains. D'après certains auteurs, ces formes nouvelles de participation sont, dans l'esprit, essentiellement coopératives et, par nature, directement démocratique. Il est exposé ici que les nouveaux régimes participatifs font encore intervenir des processus sociaux de représentation et de conflit propres à des formes d'engagement plus traditionnelles. Les participants oscillent de manière dynamique entre coopération et conflit, et entre participation en tant qu'individus et représentation collective. Cet article présente une étude minutieuse de la manière dont une décision a étéélaborée et mise en œuvre dans le cadre d'une expérience participative de ce type, ‘American Street Empowerment Zone’à Philadelphie (Pennsylvanie), de 1994 à 1998. Des données issues d'archives et d'entretiens corroborent la perspective générale commune aux articles de ce symposium: la participation implique un mouvement dynamique entre conflit et coopération. L'article suggère que la pérennité du régime participatif dépend, non pas du niveau de conflit, mais de la façon dont les participants alternent dans leur manifestation d'une identification soit au gouvernement soit aux membres de leur communauté. Le concept d'intermédiation est utilisé pour décrire cette forme de dynamique et pour traduire la souplesse que doit garder une structure participative pour perdurer.

Suggested Citation

  • Debbie Becher, 2010. "The Participant's Dilemma: Bringing Conflict and Representation Back In," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 496-511, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:34:y:2010:i:3:p:496-511
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.00965.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hilary Silver & Alan Scott & Yuri Kazepov, 2010. "Participation in Urban Contention and Deliberation," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 453-477, September.
    2. Fligstein, Neil, 2001. "Social Skill and the Theory of Fields," Center for Culture, Organizations and Politics, Working Paper Series qt26m187b1, Center for Culture, Organizations and Politics of theInstitute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley.
    3. RUTH McALISTER, 2010. "Putting the ‘Community’ into Community Planning: Assessing Community Inclusion in Northern Ireland," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 533-547, September.
    4. Weaver, R. Kent, 1986. "The Politics of Blame Avoidance," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(4), pages 371-398, October.
    5. Jonathan S. Davies, 2007. "The Limits of Partnership: An Exit-Action Strategy for Local Democratic Inclusion," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 55, pages 779-800, December.
    6. Alex Aylett, 2010. "Conflict, Collaboration and Climate Change: Participatory Democracy and Urban Environmental Struggles in Durban, South Africa," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 478-495, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Koch, 2013. "Bringing Power Back In: Collective and Distributive Forms of Power in Public Participation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(14), pages 2976-2992, November.
    2. Hilary Silver & Alan Scott & Yuri Kazepov, 2010. "Participation in Urban Contention and Deliberation," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 453-477, September.

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