Keynote presentation : Participation, deliberation, citizenship: for an inclusive democracy

With Marion Carrel, Université de Lille (France)

Participation and deliberation are two distinct ideas that can enter into tension, one centered on the sharing of decision-making power, the other on public debate. However, they are often confused because they complement each other in the quest for a more inclusive democracy. This quest is not without risk of reproducing social inequalities and epistemic injustices, when participatory democracy is summed up as a participatory injunction: a top-down institutional offer that seeks neither to identify possible malfunctions in public action, nor to combat inequalities in citizenship. As a result, it proves counter-productive in curbing the democratic crisis, marked by mistrust of representatives. Yet citizen participation can be a lever for regenerating democracy, which is still a work in progress. Under certain conditions, it can transform public policies, stimulate the questioning of institutions and the emancipation of individuals and groups, particularly the most precarious and those far removed from public discourse. Attention to the relational dimension of citizenship, particularly from the “margins” or minority position in society, is central to this process, as it raises the question of the visibility of plural forms of contribution to the common good and expression of feelings of injustice. Acknowledging this ordinary citizenship, rooted in the daily lives of individuals and groups, does not mean, however, that we should lock ourselves into micro-localism or populism. Among the avenues open to inclusive democracy, the cross-fertilization of knowledge and practices between the worlds of associations, universities and professionals is proving fruitful. Democratic innovations are crucial in the dark context of polarized societies, informational disorder and restricted freedoms in times of crisis.