The ‘participatory turn’ in science and technology governance has resulted in the growth of initiatives designed to engage lay people in consultation and decision-making on controversial matters. Almost from the start there has been both enthusiasm and serious critique of these exercises, from scholars and activists. The gaps and challenges are well known. In this paper we indicate the limitations of deliberative mechanisms as regards how they cope with familiar forms of people’s engagement with a given matter. We examine how this phenomenon unfolded at the Barcelona Citizen Conference on the Digitalization of Society; a participatory exercise inspired by the model of consensus conferences that took place in 2014 in Barcelona. Our perspective on the topic is inspired by Sociology of Engagements. Focusing on how participants and organizers deal with individual anecdotes, worries and testimonies reported during the conference, the analysis shows how these formats are ignored, externalized, banned and re-formed during deliberations. This phenomenon is seen as supporting a civic-liberal regime of engagement.

中文翻译：

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公共空间中的私人问题：公民会议的参与机制

科技治理的“参与性转向”导致了旨在让非专业人士参与有争议问题的咨询和决策的举措的增长。几乎从一开始就有学者和活动家对这些练习的热情和严厉批评。差距和挑战是众所周知的。在本文中，我们指出了协商机制在如何处理人们对特定问题的熟悉形式的参与方面的局限性。我们研究了这种现象是如何在巴塞罗那社会数字化公民会议上展开的；受 2014 年在巴塞罗那举行的共识会议模式启发的参与式练习。我们对这个话题的看法受到了参与社会学的启发。关注参与者和组织者如何处理会议期间报告的个人轶事、担忧和证词，分析显示了这些格式如何在审议过程中被忽略、外化、禁止和重新形成。这种现象被视为支持公民自由参与制度。