The bottom-up approach is a viewpoint on the causes of the Holocaust.
This approach is usually housed under a common debate in understanding the Holocaust, known as the functionalism versus intentionalism debate. Functionalists represent the argument that the decision to kill the Jews developed over time with a concept called "cumulative radicalization" (Hans Mommsen). Intentionalists, on the other hand, believe that the Final Solution was intended to occur all along and use antisemitism to prove this point.[1] In the functionalism versus intentionalism debate, the bottom-up approach originated under the functionalist perspective. Götz Aly, specifically, has argued the case for the bottom-up approach from the functionalist view.
The approach is best defined as one of the many arguments used to explain the Holocaust. This reasoning focuses on those of lower rank and their pressuring of higher ranks to implement what is now known as the Final Solution.