Awakening Around the Campfire

Awakening Around the Campfire

7 September 2026

It is Monday, after the international Curaçao music festival and, for example, the Formula 1 race in Monza. It is a sluggish day; the temperature is rising quickly. Apparently, the festival was once again a great success. They say that this time more of the artists came from the region. But to me — I wasn’t there — that was not the biggest change. The biggest change was that those who went, or could afford to go, did so, while the large group that does not participate, or cannot participate, was simply left alone. That meant there was no tension. Incidentally, there were more free tickets than ever, so those who really wanted to attend could make an effort to get hold of one.

Then there is the news that, for the first time since the Second World War, a far-right party in Germany has won an election with 44% of the vote. The richest man on earth is among the first to offer his congratulations. I notice that, here, we still need some time to absorb what this means.

Slowly, the members of the household leave the house and I begin my work: preparing for my work visit to Bonaire. I want to say something anthropological about coming together and meeting. Naturally, I arrive at Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

As I continue searching, I come across the work of anthropologist Richard Lee. He studied hunter-gatherer communities and the ways in which people live together within them. They live around the campfire, as a community. The day begins as the circle awakens, everyone at their own pace, and things get going quite organically. Breakfast consists of whatever is left over from the day before, and gradually everyone becomes active in preparing for the next meal. This may mean that a few people go hunting while others take on different tasks. Children participate and, in the process, are raised and taught. Lee also showed that people in these societies spent far less time gathering food than we often assume.

I recognize my Monday morning in Lee’s description. Here, too, the circle slowly awakens. Everyone at their own pace. One person leaves, another begins working, and without anyone taking charge, the day gets underway.

Perhaps that is also the essence of coming together and holding meetings. Long before there were meeting rooms, agendas, PowerPoints and minutes, people sat around the campfire. They talked, listened to one another, divided tasks, solved problems and decided what needed to be done. The campfire may well have been our first conference table.

That is the thought I am taking with me to Bonaire. Ultimately, good governance does not begin with reports, structures or procedures. Those are necessary, but they come later. It begins with people who are willing to sit around the same campfire, listen to one another and take shared responsibility for what needs to happen next.

Miguel Goede