Behind and beyond political participation. A psychological contribution to participatory process studies.

Transformations involving worldwide urban contexts and new governance models\r\nhave been playing a key role in highlighting heterogeneous and diverse devices addressed to\r\npromote new connections between social actors and Institutions. Contextual features and\r\ndynamics compel us, as researchers, to take into consideration conditions and meanings of\r\npolitical and administrative patterns. Indeed, governing global complexity – at both over-local\r\nand local levels – is evidently far from being effective merely through standard procedures.\r\nWe propose some reflections on critical questions concerning participatory devices. Our\r\nconceptual frame refers to the psychosociological matrix rooted in psychodynamic – in order\r\nto take into account how sense-making is tensely constructed between individual and social\r\ndimensions – and organizational theories – concerning psychosocial issues in the Local\r\nInstitutions. We will make reference to some of our action-research experiences carried out in\r\ndifferent local contexts (Italy, Portugal and France) proposing, finally, considerations on\r\ndifferent participatory processes’ scenarios.