query: definition of "grassroots"

Sun Aug 3 10:02:00 CDT 2008

[ed:  thanks to Chris for replying to Dan's query.]

From: "Chris Cavanagh" <story at web.ca>

I ponder this one regularly. Especially when i hear political parties 
and conservatives talk about "going to the grassroots". But i think it 
is one of those words for which "definition" is an almost impossible 
exercise. I recommend considering this word in light of Raymond 
Williams' notion of keywords. These are words for which definitions are 
unavoidably political and partisan. They are words that represent fields 
of meaning as well as terrains of contestation. They are also moving 
targets. Thus, as Williams suggests, the best way to explore the 
meanings of these words is to push beyond the etymological task of 
defining them and explore their cultural histories.

Grassroots, like "community", "democracy", "development", etc. tends to 
mean whatever the user wants it to mean in a specific context. So, the 
simple answer to your question is to affirm each of your queries. Yes, 
it is "undefinable". Yes, it refers to the "bottom-up" origin of an 
organization despite its size and changes. Yes, it has to do with the 
"community-based" mission.

I know that's not necessarily being very helpful. Not to mention risking 
sophistry and pedantry. Apologies if that's what i am doing.

My point is that the term represents a political struggle, a contest of 
power. I would love "grassroots" to mean what i want it to mean - 
representing communities in their engaged participation and control of 
their lives, society, the economy, etc. It's more than this as well. But 
in order to be brief i'll stick to that for now. I say "communities" and 
not "people" or "persons" or "citizens" because i want to resist the 
notion that the basic building block of our societies is the individual 
citizen, enfranchised as they may be with civil, political and human 
rights (the loan rights bearer, in some jargon). I'm more favourable to 
Martin Buber's notion of the I-Thou (though i'm more secular than he 
was): the irreducible relation of mutuality in which we all exist. Last 
year here in Ontario, the provincial government convened a citizens 
assembly on electoral reform for which 103 citizens were "randomly 
selected". Many people would consider this very grassroots. But my 
concern as soon as i heard this is that that very "randomness" (even 
naive for populism) would go nowhere. Why would 103 randomly selected 
citizens be the best representation of people's interests in a place as 
big as Ontario? There is a kind of common sense (mostly bad sense) to 
that kind of selection. But it is ahistorical, decontextualised, and 
disconnected from numerous social movements and social movement groups 
that have long been active on issues of democracy and governance. This 
appeal to the grassroots was almost guaranteed from the outset to go 
nowhere. And that's what happened. Despite a half-decent recommendation 
that went to a vote last fall it failed spectacularly. Not least because 
of inadequate education. But i would say that that too was a function of 
the appeal to the grassroots. Given the randonmess of participation in 
the assembly, it was virtually guaranteed that few, if any social 
movements would have a voice. Being thus disconnected, it turned the 
assembly into a very effective demobilizing machine. And, what's worse, 
now that this effort has failed, the government can respond to any new 
attempts for reform with "we tried, the people have spoken, from now on 
it's business as usual, ladies and gentlemen." We'll be lucky to revisit 
the electoral reform issue before 2050.

I'm not suggesting we tank on the meaning of the term. We need to claim 
it and make it work for us - if, by "us" you agree that we mean that 
unwieldy, messy mix of liberals, radicals, progressives, social justice, 
anti-racist, feminist, etc. folk. But in claiming any keyword we also 
have to hold it gently, because they can quickly bite us in the ass.

So, back to your question and examples. The more complicated answer is 
that we need to evaluate things on a case-by-case basis. In some cases i 
might grant "grassroots" status to an organization that has a 
"community-based mission" while in others not. Likewise, i might allow 
that a group that started out as a grassroots (i.e. neighbourhood, 
community, a few individuals) effort but has grown into something bigger 
is still meaningfully grassroots while other such things may have become 
their exact opposite (Kinda like Harvey Dent's comment in Dark Knight, 
"either you die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the 
villain.").

peace

chris cavanagh

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
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> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
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> [ed:  please feel welcomed to copy COMM-ORG with responses to Dan's query.]
>
> From: Dan Weinles <DWeinles at gpuac.org>
>
>
> Here's a basic question:
>
> What is the accepted definition(s) of "grass roots"?  My colleagues and 
> I have been discussing this and have come to realize that the definition 
> of what constitutes a grass roots organization is possibly 
> "un-definable."  Is it the "bottom-up" origin of the organization that 
> forever defines it as "grass roots," regardless of how large and/or 
> wealthy it becomes or how it adjusts or changes its mission and services 
> over time?  Alternatively, is it the community-based mission that 
> defines the organization as grass roots?  It seems that the term "grass 
> roots" is thrown around a lot, but what it actually means varies 
> greatly.  Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Dan Weinles, PhD
> Senior Research Associate
> Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition
> 1207 Chestnut St., #622
> Philadelphia, PA 19107
> Office (215) 851-1986
>
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