Abstract
Stakeholder participation has been signalled as a fundamental goal for achieving more inclusive and procedurally just forms of food system governance within a landscape characterized by 'democratic deficits'. However, a comprehensive understanding of what constitutes procedurally just spaces and processes in participatory food system governance remains limited. To begin to address this gap, we present results from a comprehensive review of the literature, which identifies three key underlying themes framing debates on the procedural justice dimension of participation in food system governance. The first dimension-participants- addresses the stakeholders included in participation and their roles, interests and applied recruitment and selection processes. The second dimension-structural design-captures three key organizational processes that structure participation, including the design of deliberation spaces, decision-making frameworks and agenda-setting processes. The third dimension-discourses-addresses the 'what' and 'why' of participation, encompassing framing, outputs and purposes of participation. Based on these findings, we propose an integrated framework that offers an innovative lens for examining procedural justice concerns within participatory contexts. Moving beyond simplistic inclusive/ exclusive categorizations, the framework provides analytical tools to identify which specific mechanisms, practices and norms advance or undermine procedural justice in stakeholder participation. In doing so, this research offers a unique contribution to scholarly debates on more equitable and inclusive food system governance mechanisms. It also raises the need for greater scrutiny towards the micro-politics occurring in the everyday practices of participatory food system governance.