Questioning ‘Participation’: A Critical Appraisal of its Conceptualization in a Flemish Participatory Technology Assessment

This article draws attention to struggles inherent in discourse about the meaning of participation in a Flemish participatory technology assessment on nanotechnologies. It explores how, at the project's onset, key actors framed elements of the process like "the public" and drew on interpretive repertoires to fit their perspective. The examples call into question normative commitments to cooperation, consensus building, and comment action that conventional guide public engagement approaches. The author argues that these public engagement activities must reflect an awareness of competing interests and perspectives inherent in the discourse associated with the meaning of "participation" if it is to incite action beyond vested interests and ensure genuine mutual learning.