Participation and politics. Discussing some meanings and participatory practices in Latin America

Abstract

In recent decades notions such as civil society, social movements or social mobilization and collective action are leading discourses that challenge power. In the various expressions of society’s intervention in public affairs that have been occurring in recent decades in Latin America, “participation” is the keyword used by those who are positioned in the left as well as by the ones who are positioned in the right side of the political spectrum. Therefore, it is evident that there is a semantic dispute around this polysemic concept and that is why we intend to contribute to this debate. The article explores whether the use of the term participation makes reference to the same phenomenon or refers usually to very different processes. Are these differences of degree or are they substantive? We start our paper introducing some theoretical digressions on the notion of participation, such as citizen participation (articulation between citizens and the State), social participation (from society), participation within political parties, and participation in collective actions. Finally, we include some empirical references about participatory practices promoted by the State in Latin America in the past two decades. 

Key words: social participation, social movements, Latin America.