Platforms and public participation. Issue 6 (1st November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Butt, Danny; McQuire, Scott; Papastergiadis, Nikos
• Is Part Of: Continuum. Volume 30:Issue 6(2016)
• Page Start: 734
• Page End: 743
• Publication Date: 2016-11-01
• Subjects: Motion pictures -- Australia -- Periodicals; Broadcasting -- Australia -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; 306.05
• DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2016.1231777
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1030-4312

Abstract

Abstract: The concept of the 'platform' has recently received extensive analysis in media studies and urban planning. This paper explores the platform's contemporary emergence as an expression of a new archival logic that questions the possibility of a democratic politics of participation. 'Public participation' in the platform invokes the individual in the form of a consumer with a profile rather than as a citizen of a state. This paper returns to Claudio Ciborra's 1996 work on the 'platform organization' to diagnose a 're-architecting' capability which we argue is integral to platform politics. Since this capacity for re-architecting is generally reserved from participants, we highlight the potential of 'de-participation' toward the emergence of counter-platforms.