Democracy of the Ground


Democracy of the Ground
My professor Robert Chambers, while he was teaching us about participation and how it should be conducted, mentioned the term “democracy of the ground.” It has a simple meaning: when he was in India he had to sit down on the ground to work with the people.


Copy right to IDS, Brighton UK University of Sussex

Last month, my son asked me to play with him.  I asked him to come up where I was as I was tired, but he then said “no, you come sit with me.” The democracy of the ground returned back to my mind. He is right, I should come to his level. Would we in our interactions and dealings with others, remember to “come down”?  It reminds me with how Jesus answered the blessed Andrew and John to “come and see” (Jn. 1: 39) when they asked Him ““where are You staying?”
If we cannot come down, the people cannot go up. This also reminds me with the verse, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” ( Jn. 3:13). 


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