Media research into participatory practices has become popular again, triggered by the interest in online media and their decentralised nature that beholds the promise of empowerment. This increased interest for participatory practices has also made a series of problems resurface, which are located at three distinct, but still interrelated, levels.
Firstly, there is hardly a consensus on how participation should be theoretised, or even defined. The resulting plurality of approaches towards participation can only be wel- comed and embraced, but at the same time there is a need for clarity to ensure that aca- demic dialogues can be organised and academics can build more on each other’s work to better understand the role of participation in contemporary societies. Secondly, there is also considerable vagueness on how participation should be researched. All social prac- tices are characterised by complexity, but, in the case of participatory process, this complex- ity is further enhanced by the discursive and material struggles that are intimately connected with these participatory processes. Analytical models, which might support researchers better in tackling this complexity, are hardly being debated (or developed). Thirdly, there is no sufficient debate on how participation should be evaluated. On some occasions, the impression might arise that any kind of social action can be labelled as par- ticipatory, and then celebrated as part of the trajectory towards a democratic nirvana. There is a need to acknowledge the ideological nature of participation, which brings about normative discussions into the desirability of particular participatory intensities. At this level, the critical perspective provides a normative anchoring point that will facilitate this process of self-positioning.
