X-Participation: Transformative encounters between public participation and experimental modes of innovation

For half a century, the participation of different publics in science, technology and innovation-related issues has been a key issue in the scientific literature, but also in policy and business circles, as well as in civil society more broadly. By grouping the successive varieties of participation under the rubric of 'X-participation', this chapter looks back at how public participation in science, technology and innovation has been advocated, enacted and analyzed over the past decades. It also provides empirical accounts to understand how participatory practices have been transformed through the adoption of experimental forms that we now find under the term 'test bed' or 'living lab'. It suggests that what matters to public authorities in promoting and establishing participatory innovation practices is not only the outcomes of such practices in terms of innovation products, but also the shaping of entrepreneurial citizens and the society that is expected to emerge as a result. By highlighting some of the critiques of institutional forms of participatory innovation, it points to other potential ways of enacting participation that remain marginalized. Ultimately, it points to important dimensions of the changing democratic order and biopolitical relationship between the state and its citizens.