What does it mean to participate? Gender influence on the image of participation

Participation is the core of all democratic theory and practice. Both classical and contemporary reflections on democracy echo the participatory imperative. However, there exist different notions of what it means to participate, which depend, among other things, on the enunciating agent’s theoretical positioning in the academic field as well as the social position of that agent. Considering this diversity of meanings, this article defends the idea that different domination systems (gender, race, social class, age, etc.) permeate participation and explores, from a biographical point of view, the influence of gender and its relationship with other structures such as age when it comes to ways of understanding participation. To achieve this aim, participatory biographies of 42 women and six men who form part of a democratic innovation apparatus in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country are used. Furthermore, data from five discussion groups held with 21 of these 42 women are analyzed. The study reveals three images of participation: broad, mixed and restrictive understandings of participation. These images help to map the conceptual diversity on the issue of participation and also to study the theoretical and practical implications of the use of each.