Participation: Norms and Storms

You are warmly invited to submit abstracts for the Participation Research group symposium on Friday 21 April.

The symposium will explore how participation in arts & culture, or interdisciplinary research is informed by implicit rules or norms.

We are also interested in work that investigates breaking the rules of participation. We are aware of the proliferation and popularity of participatory approaches, for instance ‘co-production’ and ‘public engagement’ being two institutionalised initiatives that have gained prominence in the UK in recent years.

But such wholesale adoption of participation can be uncritical, nostalgic, patronising, and, as Markus Miessen (2011) claims, indicative of the evacuation of political responsibility as it seeks out consensus. 

Symposium themes

Some of the broad themes your work may speak to: 

  • Participation and (cultural) democracy 
  • Participatory research: methods and rules 
  • Participatory art forms (their implicit rules/ boundaries and who/what breaks them) 
  • Participatory governance in arts and culture 
  • Participation, space and place 
  • Aesthetics of participation 
  • Digital participation 
  • Beyond consensus: conflict/ dissensus/ failure in participation 

We will have a keynote by Kirsty Sedgman. 

Propose a paper or installation

To propose a paper or installation, please fill in the Google form

Deadline for submission: Friday 24 February 
Outcomes announced: Monday 3 March

We hope to have a small bursary to enable an independent/ PGR colleague to participate.

Book your place

Book your place using this Google form.

Image by CSalem – Free to use under the Pixabey Licence