The increasing polarisation of politics and policy globally has increased division, civil unrest, international instability and conflict on the one hand and prompted resistance, renewal and participation on the other. Placing such participation at the heart of discussion around global politics, policy and technological innovation, this comprehensive handbook explores key questions pivotal to the democratic project: who gets to participate, how can we challenge participation’s subversion, whose voices are being excluded and how can participation be renewed and extended for sustainable futures?

Drawing on a wealth of interdisciplinary experience in participatory scholarship and activism, the editors and contributors embody and engage in an inclusive pedagogy of participation in creating this handbook. With a shared collective vision towards the necessary de‑centring of legitimised knowledge systems, they centre the voices of activists, service users and carers, and early‑career and established academics who speak in concert on issues of global importance. Bringing together the politics of participation in the widest possible framework, the book explores academic approaches to public participation; participatory research and evaluation; decolonising participation; participation in action; new populisms, participation and politics; participatory epistemology; participatory policy and governance; new technologies; and communication and participation.

This handbook will serve as a key resource and reference point for interdisciplinary audiences as well as targeted sub‑fields including Politics and International Relations, Sociology, Migration Studies, Social Movement Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Ageing Studies, Mad and Disability Studies, Health and Social Care, Education Studies, Social Work, Service User Involvement and Citizenship Studies, Global Social Policy, Development and Peace Studies, Affect Studies, and Digital Culture and Media Studies. It will also serve as a key reference text

Peter Beresford is a Visiting Professor at the University of East Anglia and the Chair of the UK user‑led organisation Shaping Our Lives.

Jurgen Grotz, PhD, is the Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research at the University of East Anglia, UK.

Mel Hughes is Professor of Social Work at Bournemouth University, UK, and a National Teaching Fellow in recognition of her innovative teaching involving people and communities.
Lia Levin is an Associate Professor at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University.
Fiona Poland is a sociologist and Professor of Social Research Methodology at the University of East Anglia, UK.
Ewen Speed, PhD, is Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.
Bridget Penhale is a Reader Emerita at the University of East Anglia, UK. She has academic, clinical professional and managerial experience relating to social work and social gerontology, as well as advocacy roles concerning the rights of older persons.