REINVENTING PARTICIPATION: CIVIC AGENCY AND THE WEB ENVIRONMENT

ABSTRACT.Participation is a key concept in the vocabulary of democracy, and can encompass a variety of dimensions. Moreover, it can be shaped by a range of different factors; my emphasis here is on the significance of the web environment in this regard. I first situate participation against the backdrop of democracy's contemporary developments, including the onslaught of neoliberalism. From there I offer a set of parameters that can help us grasp participation both conceptually and empirically: trajectory, visibility, voice, and sociality, and relate these to the affordances of the digital media. Thereafter I explore the cultural resources necessary for the facilitation of participation; for this I make use of a six-dimensional model of civic cultures. My discussion focuses on two of the dimensions, practices and identities; I again relate these to the web environment. I conclude with a dilemma that online democratic participation faces, namely what I call the isolation of the solo sphere, yet affirm that we are justified in maintaining a guarded optimism about the future of participation.Keywords: participation, democracy, internet, citizens, civic cultures1. IntroductionDeriving from several different fields and discourses in the social sciences, the notion of 'participation' remains somewhat fluid, varying with the contexts of its use. In media and communication studies, especially where social and political engagement is on the research agenda, a lack of clarity or fixity is notable (Carpentier, 201 1). In this presentation I will not attempt to offer a once-and-for-all definition, nor offer an inventory of possible usages, but rather will, using a largely common sense understanding of the concept, highlight what I take to be some features of participation in the realm of civil society and politics. In these domains participation manifests citizenship, it becomes an expression of civic agency. However, drawing boundaries in the modern world becomes increasingly tricky, and it is not always clear where participation in broader social and cultural activities, including consumption, ends and where civil society and politics begin. Nor, as I will discuss, is the distinction between the latter two always unproblematic, or even the border between politics and non-politics. Yet, I will suggest that . participation, at times even within the context of consumption, is inexorably tied to the life of democracy.The background setting that gives participation its contemporary relevance is of course the difficulties facing democracy, where the involvement of citizens on the one hand has become increasingly problematic, and on the other, where new forms of participation - mediated citizenship we might call them - are emerging. I have sketched elsewhere (Dahlgren, 2009) the general contours of a perspective on political participation, highlighting how various forms of media may function foster or hinder it. In the present discussion I extend this analysis by unpacking what I see to be key elements of online-based participation itself - its fundamental parameters - and by looking at how net-related contingencies may impact on them. The notion of participation is central to our understanding of both media audiences and the practices of civic agency today. As media and societal circumstances evolve, so must we try to update our understanding of participation.In an initial scene-setting section I offer some general reflections on democracy, the evolving media landscape, and participation. From there I delve into some of the key parameters of online participation, highlighting their significance for democracy. Thereafter I use the framework of civic cultures to illuminate the resources required for civic participation; these resources are essential for the vitality of democracy. In the final section I briefly look at a dilemma facing web-based civic agency in Western society, underscoring the need for cautious optimism. …