The dynamics of Conflict by Default in Citizen Participation Processes

Abstract

Processes of citizen participation could be understood as the quintessential example of conflicts by default. For example, in processes of urban regeneration, the interests and agendas of citizens, housing corporations, commercial developers, and shop owners contradict so strongly that citizens in these participation processes often end up as activists protesting the very project in which they previously participated. Citizens who are invited to participate in plans for sustainable solutions, such as windmills, have dramatically different ideas about suitable energy solutions for their living environments than municipalities. And in processes of community organizing, citizens, welfare organizations as well as municipal actors engage in complex negotiations about the division of resources, space and diversity issues. Municipalities are often in the position to mediate all these agendas. At the same time, they are also a stakeholder in these conflicts as their own political agendas seek to increase sustainability, inclusivity as well as the need to sustain financial resources via land pricing or ground lease. One can imagine that in the complex context of contradicting agenda’s and opposing views of what makes a ‘good neighborhood’, ‘good living environment’ or a ‘good community’ conflict happens by default. Since recent calls for increased democratization in various aspects of local governance – urban development, infrastructure planning, sustainable energy transition, community life, etc. –the sheer number of citizen participation processes have increased. This makes a better understanding of the dynamics of conflicts in these processes urgent. Insights about the dynamics of conflict in citizen participation processes may lead to rethinking new practices of conflict transformation, inclusive governance, curb post political practices, and develop ways to turn conflicts more productive. In this panel we thus seek papers that dig into the dynamics of conflict and disagreement during local citizen participation processes. We have collected an international group of scholars who are at the forefront of this debate and whose papers contribute via various critical case study analyses and theoretical perspectives that open new vantage points to make sense of conflict by default.

Title	Details
Contested participation: Understanding agonistic struggles in the field of participatory urban policy	View Paper Details
Brawl in the Parliament of Things: Participation, conflict and the representation of non-human actors.	View Paper Details
Under Pressure: citizen participation in the shadow of urgent climate policy.	View Paper Details
The Contribution of Endogenous Factors to Conflicts in Citizen Participation	View Paper Details
Re-politicizing Citizen Participation.	View Paper Details