ABSTRACT
Meetings have attracted significant interest over the years given their frequency and importance for participants and organisations. The term – as it is globally used by social actors as well as by scholars – covers heterogeneous gatherings in which people meet for professional and institutional purposes and work together on a common task and goal. On one side, meetings are a common way in which political activities are organised among large numbers of participants, allowing politicians to talk to large audiences as well as to enable citizens' participation. On the other side, in the professional context, meetings always have a political dimension in that their organisation fosters or reduces issues of asymmetry, power and participation. More generally, meetings are a form of social activity that concerns a number of people engaged in institutions, organisations and professions (Schwartzman 1989). They involve a variable number of participants (from two to hundreds), the presence or absence of organising figures such as moderators, chairpersons, facilitators, and so on, a restricted versus public right to participate, and the use of artefacts (e.g. an agenda). As argued in early research, the form and function of the meeting varies considerably, but the participants always ‘commonsensically’ recognise it (Cuff & Sharrock 1985) despite the variations.
