‘Understanding from below’ refers to an approach in social science research that seeks to understand society from the perspective of ordinary people rather than from the viewpoint of elites, institutions, or authorities. It emphasizes the lived experiences, meanings, interpretations, and everyday realities of individuals and communities, especially those who are marginalized, disadvantaged, or excluded from dominant narratives. This perspective assumes that social reality cannot be fully understood only through official records, statistics, or policies. Instead, it requires researchers to engage directly with people's experiences, voices, and social contexts. The concept is closely associated with interpretive sociology, symbolic interactionism, ethnography, phenomenology, and qualitative research methods, where understanding subjective meanings is considered essential for explaining social behaviour. The approach challenges top-down explanations of society by recognizing that ordinary people actively create, negotiate,