Ten insolvable dilemmas of participation and why foresight has to deal with them

Purpose – Arguably the most distinguishing characteristic of the current rise of foresight for dealing with the long term is the explicit mention and involvement of actors and actor networks, i.e. participation. In general, this participation dimension is considered a valuable contribution to better anticipation and anticipatory behavior. However, participation should not be seen as the solution for the conceptual and practical difficulties of anticipation. This paper seeks to argue that, although participation is a necessary requirement for foresight, it contributes a number of new problems, which one prefers to see as dilemmas (since there is no solution to these “problems”). Understanding these “ten insolvable dilemmas of participation” is the main objective of this contribution.Design/methodology/approach – This article employs theories and practice dealing with participatory approaches.Findings – Although an important dimension of foresight, participation is often trivialized. However, using particip...

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