Who is the target audience for participatory schemes in working-class neighbourhoods? Participation entrepreneurs as recipients of participatory public action in Marseilles and Barcelona

Since the early 2000s, a growing number of participatory mechanisms have been set up in working-class neighborhoods, with the aim of reaching out to individuals perceived by public authorities as suffering from a lack of citizenship. The development of a range of public participation mechanisms and procedures has transformed the associative fabric and led to the emergence of “participation entrepreneurs”. Based on an ethnographic survey in two districts of Marseille and Barcelona, the article takes as its starting point these entrepreneurs who play a central role in the local appropriation of public participation. It examines their contribution to the implementation of participation and shows how their position oscillates between intermediaries and recipients of participation policies. As intermediaries, entrepreneurs are entrusted by administrative officials with the task of mobilizing the local public at participation meetings. However, the study of mobilization logics shows that institutional agents pay little attention to the selective practices of entrepreneurs. What's more, we're witnessing the closure of certain participatory mechanisms around entrepreneurs, who are becoming their main audience.