Engaging Marginalised Groups in Citizens’ Assemblies: An Intersectional Study of Brussels Climate Assembly and Paris Citizen Assembly

In recent years, citizens’ assemblies (CAs) have emerged as innovative platforms aimed at developing better policies and fostering a more inclusive and participatory democracy. However, in practice, citizens assemblies often fail to counteract intersectional inequalities that hinder equitable engagement during the process. An intersectional framework provides a rich and nuanced basis for the analysis of internal inclusion practices in citizens assemblies. This paper explores how intersectionality shapes engagement during the deliberations, particularly for individuals from historically marginalised and disempowered communities. Through semi-structured interviews this study qualitatively maps the challenges that individuals from marginalised groups face when engaging and the conditions under which they feel included in the process. The analysis focuses on two citizen’s assemblies in multicultural European capitals: the Brussels Climate Assembly and the Paris Citizens’ Assembly. This research contributes to our understanding of how participatory mechanisms can better address systemic intersectional inequalities, and provide insight into making governance more inclusive and effective.