On dealing with knowledge in participatory processes of decision making

Abstract: This text tries to explore the issue of knowledge in relation to ‘participatory processes of decision making’. Writing from an interdisciplinary perspective, the text revises both theories on democracy and on knowledge trying to bridge them in order to highlight the importance of the knowledge dimension for understanding the ‘participatory processes of decision making’(PPDM). The text suggests 3 aspects on which knowledge can be of use for understanding the PPDM: the learning dimension, the discourses, and the inclusion/exclusion process. The text initially reviews some of the main theories on democracy that have suggested a greater involvement of the citizens in the decisions in the community and how knowledge has already been present on some of this literature. Later on, the argument on the relevance of knowledge in PPDM is built by bringing forward theories on knowledge belonging to diverse disciplines, among others, constructivist’s (J. Piaget and H. Glasserfeld) and M. Foucault’s perspectives on knowledge. The centrality of the 3 aspects proposed (the learning dimension, discourses and inclusion/exclusion process) is brought into discussion by a dialogue between the revised theories on knowledge and democracy. Finally the theoretical discussion is exemplified by presenting briefly a case of PPDM, the Participatory Budgeting in Dondo, Mozambique. The example shows how these three perspectives may be useful not only from an epistemic perspective, but how they may have a more pragmatic use as well. The text concludes that the knowledge dimension can help disclosing diverse central features of the PPDM, contributing for interpreting the complexity on which the participatory processes of decision making are immersed.