Innovative Consultation Processes and the Changing Role of Activism

i Innovative forms of public participation challenge the idea that activists must inevitably be caught up in consultation methods that are tokenistic or manipulative. Citizens’ juries, consensus conferences, deliberative polls and televotes—these methods hold promise for enhanced representativeness and offer the added benefit of creating deliberative spaces for sound decision making. These robust methods are described and their relevance to collective action is discussed. Activists are advised to engage in reflective practice and to relinquish the ineffective role of committee member in situations where representativeness is a requirement. Instead of claiming to represent the entire community, activists are encouraged to adopt more appropriate and satisfying roles including that of expert.