Perplexity and agonistic participation: on children's and teenagers’ unruly participation in educational programmes

Projects that aim to increase participation are supported by universities, civil society actors and, increasingly, philanthropists and not-for-profit foundations close to the telecommunications industry. This article explores the formatting of participation in contemporary participatory projects at the intersection of education and technology. After situating its understanding of ‘participation’ and radical-pluralist democracy, the article reviews current understandings of participatory democratic practices in policy design and enactment that draw on political theory and involve (educational) technology (e.g. technical democracy, technical agonism, agonistic participatory design). Drawing on illustrative examples from an ethnographic study of participatory projects with young people in libraries, makerspaces and museums, the article argues that although children and teenagers enact the spirit of participation, their agentic moments are often unseen by the perplexed adults involved. The article suggests that noticing and engaging with the ‘perplexity’ arising in moments of dissensus can open up novel forms of policy enactments around participation. Transformative forms of participation require a robust theory of (radical) democracy, and procedures to engage with the quotidian politics of dissent and the ordinary affects of perplexity.