Abstract
Participation is most often portrayed as positive for human condition. Humans are social creatures, and they tend to be at their best when they work together to solve problems. But participation can be very different depending on social circumstances. This paper identifies two types of participation, based in part on the work of Ivan Illich, with very different motives and consequences: controlled participation focusing on don neophyte–expert relationships and legitimacy and convivial participation which relies on the human desire to form connections in exploring solutions. This paper suggests that Internet-based tools offer possibilities for re-claiming convivial participation by communicating and developing contexts for action outside of traditional institutional boundaries. The Black Lives Matter–inspired protests of 2020 might be a watershed moment in this regard. Using the Twitter platform to release #Defund the Police, it helped create contexts for protests as convivial participation.
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Notes
Illich, one of the first to see the possibilities of the information society, was also one of the first to see the dangers in the way it was being co-opted by large corporations like MicroSoft (1991). Ironically, or maybe not so ironically, Illich brought Orwell into the conversation on technology soon after Apple’s famed 1984 Superbowl commercial.
The quote was originally from Wolfgang Sachs, but Fals Borda extends its meaning in important ways.
Later changed to CHOP, the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest because many of the protestors believed the name was being misused to suggest the people involved wanted succession from Seattle or the USA.
A recent series of articles (e.g., Wong, 2022) were published in major news outlets about how the Democrats must “fund” the police, almost 2 years after the George Floyd protests.
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Glassman, M. Re-claiming Convivial Participation as a Tool for Education: #Defund the Police and the 2020 Protests and Their Role(s) in Human Progress. Hu Arenas (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00323-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00323-5