Report on the conference on 'The Tyranny of Particpation' , Manchester, November 3rd, 1998

A short report on the Tyranny of Participation Conference held in Manchester, 3 November 1998. An introduction details emerging issues and is followed by a look at the role of individual actors and their networks in processes of institutionalisation, the question of what constitutes evidence, the implications of decentralisation on democracy and governance and finally at ways to move understanding forward. The event is summed up as one which "served to confirm our impression that there is a real need for engaged, theoretically informed reflection on particpatory work and of the importance of finding an inclusive medium for bringing practitioners into the debate".