Abstract
The wide variety of meanings attributed to the concept of participation both enables and complicates its academic deployment. The first part of the chapter provides a roadmap through this diversity, by distinguishing between two main theoretical approaches - the sociological approach, which defines participation as taking part, and the political (studies) approach, which sees participation as sharing power.
Grounded in the political approach, the second part of the chapter engages with a series of theoretical and research-based subfields within Media and Communication Studies. One overview, of the use of participation in audience studies, Marxist and anarchist media studies, deliberation and public sphere approaches, and development/international communication, demonstrates the theoretical diversity in participation studies.
A second overview, of the analyses of participatory practices in three locations - community and alternative media, television talk shows and reality TV, and online media/Internet studies, then shows the differences in participatory intensities and their normative evaluations.