Participation, communication and innovation: Thinking about the international AIDS vaccine initiative

This article is an attempt to think about participation not as an event but rather as part of an effort to build systems and institutions in science, technology and innovation in developing countries. It uses two notions of participation, one as a mechanism to facilitate democracy and broader control and another as a means to achieve development goals. The article looks at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and in particular considers the way in which more grassroots participation is linked to communications strategy in the IAVI's case. It argues that examining the extent to which participation efforts are embedded in broader communication strategies may be important in distinguishing between ways in which participation is deployed an used, and it distinguishes between 'communication for participation' and 'participation for communication The article also explores Hirschman's ideas around 'exit', 'voice' and 'loyalty' and innovation systems as frameworks, which help to situate participation in the broader context of institutional development. © Institute of Development Studies.