But what is it? : critique of undefined participation.

'Participation' is very much in vogue and currently used to cover a wide range of practice. This paper critically examines how the term 'participation' is used. To avoid the term becoming meaningless, the author argues the importance of being specific about what is intended and what is being done when using the term to describe or define a particular piece of social, community, youth or development work. A list of variables by which participation can be defined are provided.