From openness to integration: the role of vulnerability in consent-based decision-making

Purpose This paper aims to explore how to maintain participatory practice in organizations by understanding the role of vulnerability in consent-based decision-making. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a reflexive and interpretive methodology. It builds on ethnographic fieldwork in a Swiss social organization that uses consent-based decision-making in meetings as part of a transformation toward a self-managing organization. Findings The study highlights the crucial role of vulnerability in integrating divergent perspectives through processes of sharing, becoming open, allowing unknowingness, and integrating difficult emotions. Originality/value The research demonstrates the value of vulnerability in consent-based decision-making as a process of integrating differences. It introduces the notion of a pedagogy of participation to capture how participatory capacities are learned in everyday practice.