Spaces for community involvement: Processes of disciplining and appropriation

Proposals for greater community involvement in local governance run through much ‘New Labour’ policy. Studies suggest that often the performance criteria tied to participatory mechanisms act to discipline citizen voices. This paper considers the ways in which this political space might simultaneously enable citizens to appropriate governmental power to their own ends. It draws on empirical evidence, gathered during qualitative research in south-east London, to focus on contestations surrounding the way in which ‘voices’ are expressed. The paper highlights the role of practitioners as allies in struggles to counter policy-makers' expectations for citizens to speak the ‘language’ of government.