Four different meanings of participation in history of public participation 14
1.Participation from below, (1960s and early 1970s) which saw the use of terms like ‘popular participation’ and ‘participatory development’. Paulo Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ says that the development process not as a ‘gift’ received rom outside, but as a process of transformation gained through critical reflection and action by the people themselves
2.participation as beneficiaries and users of development projects’, (1980s) , with the rapid growth of development actors, who viewed participation as an approach to be used in project delivery. This could be seen in sectorial programmes such as waters, health, irrigation, forestry etc. where participation took the form of user’s committees, thus providing space for participation in the project cycle.
3.Stakeholders Participation (1990s) when terms like beneficiaries and excluded gave way to more neutral terms like stakeholders in the development discourses, as a result of the mainstreaming of participation in large scale development programs
4. Participation as the rights of citizenship (end of 1990s) where it began to be viewed as a ‘right of citizens’ rather than as an opportunities given to beneficiaries. This idea of participation as a right invoked a move to a more political idea of participation of citizens, who themselves bear both rights and responsibilities.
There is need for radical system change as per the theoretical formulation, which
is referred as “critical modernism” by Giles and Mohan, where initiatives come more from citizens than institutions. Government should actively work to promote such institutional mechanisms that make real the possibility. People’ participation has to move a level up from project level to policy level which can lead to political empowerment of people, rather than mere involvement in some technical studies.
Webster and Engberg Pederson (2003) concept of ‘political space’ comprises three analytical dimensions.
• The institutional channels, through which policy formulation and implementation could be accessed, controlled or contested by the poor.
• The Political discourses in which poverty and poverty reduction are specific issues
• The social and political practices of the poor which may be a basis for influencing decision making, agenda, policy and programme implementation. Thus viewing participation as a corollary to citizenship perceives citizens as not external but internal/integral to the governance process.
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