Essachess. 10th Anniversary of Essachess

In the field of communication studies, debates on the experiences and participatory ethics of Internet users in civic and democratic issues stand out more and more. Sometimes limited in its conceptualization, the different approaches to the concept of participation lack theoretical elaboration, which reduces also its scope of interpretation in research related to participatory practices in the media. Nico Carpentier, professor and theorist of the concept of participation, has published numerous studies about the concept of participation, in many different social contexts, making it possible to better apprehend the differences between the concepts of access, interaction and participation. He presents the close relationship of participation with the notions of power (following a Foucauldian approach to the notion) and decision-making. Carpentier presents during this interview a summary of his analytical model for the study of media participatory processes, his conception about the use of the notion of power, and the different forms of participation.