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With apologies for any nonsense: > Spaces of participation > > Convenors: Mike Kesby (St Andrews), Duncan Fuller (Northumbria), Larch > Maxey (Swansea), Dorothea Kleine (London School of Economics) > > 'Participation' is gaining increasing prominence in social research and > social policy. But what are the spatial dimensions of participation - what > difference does geography make to our understandings and experiences of > participation (Cornwall 2004; Kesby 2005)? Interest in these questions is > growing outside human geography, and while our discipline as a whole is > rather late in turning its focus towards participation, geographers are > well placed to make an important contribution to the debate. This session > encourages the exploration of approaches, styles and technologies > (including participation via webconference) aimed to widen and deepen > participation within the fora of international conferences. In this > session we are interested to address questions of how space, spatiality, > context and scale affect participatory practice. We want to discuss how a > sensitivity to geographical issues better helps explain how, why and were > participation works and/or fails, and to identify a geographical > perspective might help surmount existing limitations and improve > participatory praxis. Finally we are interested to explore how > geographical concerns be brought into participatory work and how > geographical analysis might be cultivated amongst participants themselves. > > > Papers are therefore welcomed from all parts of the academy, and/or from > those actively involved in the creation of participatory spaces and > futures, in whatever form. Participants might like to consider the > following question and themes: > > · How do participatory spaces, places, contexts and arenas work, > and how can we make them work better? > > · Participation is increasingly becoming institutionalised. What > are the new institutionalised spaces of participation like and what have > their effects been? > > · How might participation best be conceptualised in spatial > terms? > > · To what extent are participatory approaches embedded in space > and place, how does that affect the sustainability of participation and > how can we facilitate the distanciation of participatory praxis beyond the > boundaries of carefully managed participatory arenas? > > · To what extent and with what consequences, are particular > participatory events/processes situated and located within particular > institutional and social contexts? > > · To what extend is PAR space 'paradoxical', i.e. beyond the > dominant powers that constitute everyday spaces, so enabling impossible > behaviours and unthinkable thoughts, yet at the same time itself > constituted by potentially dominating powers? > > · Does "The new tyranny" critique mean that participatory spaces > are inevitably spaces of externally imposed discipline and power and even > if they are, does this necessarily mean that they can never be spaces for > empowerment, consciencisation or action? > > · Does the recently proposed taxonomy of 'invited' versus > 'popular' participatory spaces provide a useful way to conceptualize > different kinds of participatory arenas? > > · How can various new and old arenas of participation be linked > and connected in productive ways and how might this address the critiques > that accuse advocates of participation of limiting themselves to the local > scale? > > · Geographers believe that spatiality and politics of scale are > tremendously important issues for social analysis, but how can be bring > these and other geographical concepts into participatory projects with > which we are involved in ways that make sense and have utility for > ordinary people? > > · How can conferences (like the RGS-IBG Annual Conf.) become > more inclusive? What roles (if any) can new information and communication > technologies play in broadening participation to those who cannot attend > in person? Could conferences be structured, timed, located, and otherwise > organised in ways which increase participation? > > Please send expressions of interest, or abstracts to any or all of the > session convenors by 24th January 2006: > > [log in to unmask] > [log in to unmask] > [log in to unmask] > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------- > Dr Duncan Fuller > Programme Leader, BA Geography > Division of Geography > Ellison Building D Block > Northumbria University > Newcastle upon Tyne > NE1 8ST > > Direct Tel - 0191 2273753 > Fax - 0191 2274715 > Divisional Office - 0191 2273428 > > PEANuT (Participatory Evaluation and Appraisal in Newcastle upon Tyne) - > http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/peanut > > Mapping Tranquillity - > http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sas/sas_research/pa/consultres/map_tr > anquil/?view=Standard > > Exploring solutions to 'graffiti' in Newcastle upon Tyne - > http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sas/sas_research/pa/consultres/graffi > ti/ > > 'Local to me': Advancing Financial Inclusion in Newcastle upon Tyne - > http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sas/sas_research/pa/consultres/local/ > ?view=Standard > > Participatory Geographies Working Group of the RGS/IBG (PyGyWG)- > http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/research/pygywebsite/ > > Geo-publishing.org - http://www.may.ie/nirsa/geo-pub/geo-pub.html > > > Radical Theory/Critical Praxis: Making a Difference Beyond the Academy? > http://www.praxis-epress.org/availablebooks/radicaltheorycriticalpraxis.ht > ml > > ==== This e-mail is intended solely for the addressee. 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