CHAPTER 1: Meaning

Practice is, first and foremost, a process by which we can experience the world and our engagement with it as meaningful. (51)

Participation refers to a process of taking part and also to the relations with others taht reflect this process. It suggests both action and connection. In this book, I will use the term participation to describe the social experience of living in the world in terms of membership in social communities and active involvement in social enterprises. Participation in this sense is both personal and social. It is a complex process that combines doing, talking, thinking, feeling, and belonging. It involves our whole person, including our bodies, minds, emotions, and social relations (55)

participation is source of identity. (56)

...a defining characteristic of participation is the possibility of developing an "identity of participation," that is, an identity constituted through relations of participation. (56)

...as a constituent of meaning, participation is broader than mere engagement in practice. Claims processors are not claims processors just while they work in the office. Of course, that time of intense engagement with their work and with one another is especially significant. But they do not cease to be claims processors at five o'clock. Their participation is not something they simply turn off when they leave. Its effects on their experience are not restricted to the specific context of their engagement. It is a part of who they are that they always carry with them and that will surface if, for instance, they themselves happen to go to the doctor, fill out an insurance form, or call a customer service center. In this sense, participation goes beyond direct engagement in specific activities with specific people. It places the negotiation of meaning in the context of our forms of membership in various communities. It is a constituent of our identities. As such, participation is not something we turn on and off. (57)