Meanings
- uncountableThe strategy or practice by organizations (such as companies and governments) of a process of "hollow" (fake) consultation of citizens or members, despite no (or little) interest in such participation, in order to improve their public image, gather attention and sympathy by creating an illusion of openness.
Participation can be used tokenistically - and ‘participation-washing’ is a common concern in data systems and beyond.
2023 July 25, The Open Data Institute1 more example
Participation washing can take many forms, including practitioners not respecting the needs and ideas of participants, not providing them with clear instructions about what they’ll be expected to contribute or not compensating participants sufficiently.
2023 December 12, Lara Groves, Ada Lovelace Institute
Origin
Apparently coined in 2020 from participation + washing
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
participation-washing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/participation-washing
“participation-washing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/participation-washing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “participation-washing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/participation-washing.
Source: participation-washing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.