Quanesha Burr

Chapters six and seven in Participatory Culture in a Networked Era by Henry Jenkins, Mizuko Ito, and danah boyd, start off serious right from the beginning. In many ways, these chapters outline the real importance of “participatory culture.” Henry Jenkins states in the Introduction Participatory “communities encourage conversations about social and political change” (152). Invoking these conversations will probably be exciting to some but frightening to others. And Jenkins continues to say,

Before we can change the world, we need to be able to imagine what another, better world might look like. We need to understand ourselves as political and civic agents and as members of particular communities, we need to be able to see making change as possible, and, in many cases, we need to be able to feel empathy for the experience of others. (152-153)

We essentially need to model people in the past like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  In my opinion, the problem is not “imagining what another, better world might look like” the problem is getting enough people to care about an improved world (Jenkins 152). If they do not care, the rest will not matter.

             Chapter six gives us examples of “participatory politics,” and key words are sharing, participating, making, gathering, and constructing (Jenkins 155-156). We are also provided with a definition of “participatory politics” and it “refers to the ways that the mechanisms of cultural participation get harnessed for political purposes” (Jenkins 156). I can actually recall a time when one of my teachers got some of my classmates involved in a pro-life march. With that memory, I agree with the research which

                                                                                              

suggests young people become invested in politics as a consequence of the role models provided by their parents . . ., their teachers . . ., and their school communities. (Jenkins 156)

I actually think parents and maybe even teachers shape a lot of young people’s opinions about political issues.

            And when chapter six starts discussing “the DREAM Act,” readers get to see youth’s power (Jenkins 160). The discussion proves a point mentioned earlier that we just need more people wanting and trying to improve society, but young people need three things opportunity, talent, and security (boyd 168). Continuing, the chapter makes the distinction between “being a part of a participatory culture movement” vs. “a participatory culture community” and ultimately one should contemplate whether a community is involved before making a decision to be a part of something (boyd 175). In conclusion, when I think of participatory culture I think of group work because “participatory culture requires us to move beyond a focus on individualized personal expression; it is about an ethos of ‘doing it together’ in addition to ‘doing it yourself’ (Jenkins, Ito, and boyd 181). Ultimately I think these chapters show us it is more challenging sometimes to be a part of a participatory culture than outside, but would you sacrifice learning and growth because of the challenges?

Questions

1.      What was the most important thing you learned within these two chapters?

2.      Will your actions change after reading chapters six and seven?