But I thought bottom-up development and peoples participation were not to depend even primarily on academics. . .

In a recent issue of the London Review of Books, political writer and social theorist William Davies bemoans the fact that:

To understand the intellectual coordinates of Trumpism requires us to look in less conventional places and to pay more attention to less obvious moments and rhythms. We may also need to reckon with the fact that, more and more, ideas can achieve influence and credibility by circumventing the world of academia altogether. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n17/william-davies/repeal-the-20th-century

Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve worked on issues and jobs in development where the driving ethos included “circumvent the world of academia altogether”.