Economist Intelligence Unit

• Democracy advocates cheered the defeat of the Law and Justice party in Poland and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s breakthrough victory over his populist adversary in Brazil.
• Read more:
  Lula and the world: what to expect from the new Brazilian foreign policy

  But populists won big victories in 2023 too — and made comebacks.

• Donald Trump, despite his numerous indictments and allegations he incited an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, began a second run for president.

A new age of extremism

• Today, we have seemingly passed from the age of extremes into an age of extremism.
• Low-trust voters feel they’ve been misled and reject the traditional policy options offered by social democratic parties.
• With the decline in support for traditional left-wing parties in the Global North, voters are sending anti-establishment messages to the parties of the right.

Binary voting and wedge issues

• Public opinion research from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Freedom House, the Pew Research Center and Sweden’s V-Dem Institute warn that there are fewer undecided voters than ever.
• Modern politics is increasingly an exercise in what’s known as binary voting.
• Amassing on land borders and crossing perilously by sea, migrants and refugees perfectly illustrate the “us versus them” mindset.

Asylum-seekers and the anxious voter

• The answer is simple: in the skewed world view of nationalists, migrants are by definition “cheaters”.
• Far-right populists campaign on the false belief that refugee-seekers are also corrupting the traditional way of life, taking jobs and driving up the cost of living.
• Increasingly extreme populists have come to power promising to deal with the problem, but they’ve failed to provide any effective solutions.
• It’s the same situation at the American southern border — in 2023, two million people illegally crossed the border.

A problem with no solution

• Climate change, war and geopolitical rivalry drive already precarious populations to seek a place of greater safety.
• But as the numbers rise, politicians continuously recycle bad ideas: close the border, send them back, send them elsewhere.
• The main drivers of migration today are not just poverty and war in the Middle East and Ukraine, but also post-pandemic labour shortages.

Staring into the abyss?

• In more than a dozen countries, populist leaders are poised to either take power or consolidate their hold on the opposition.
• Wannabe fascists are set to play a bigger role in world affairs this year than they have at any time since the Second World War.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Malaysia Healthcare encourages global citizens to practice regular examination and screenings as a crucial step in preventing breast cancer.
• With healthcare facilities that are equipped with innovative screening procedures, Malaysia Healthcare is committed to making breast cancer early detection accessible for global citizens.
• In conjunction with the breast cancer awareness month, Malaysia Healthcare shed light on the significance of early diagnosis as well as the cutting-edge screening procedures provided by several of its healthcare facilities.
• “We strongly advocate regular self-examination and frequent breast screening especially for women aged 40 and above to detect breast cancer at an early stage.

• KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VCI Global Limited (NASDAQ: VCIG) (“VCI Global”, or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it is partnering YY Group Holding Limited (“YY Group”) to identify opportunities in the hospitality field within the Southeast Asia region.
• YY Group will be able to expand into various countries by tapping on VCI Global’s vast network, while expanding VCI Global’s consulting capabilities into the hospitality industry.
• With such bright outlook, the hospitality industry in the Southeast Asia region is poised for a massive resurgence.
• YY Group, led by its founder, Mike Fu, is the market leader in manpower outsourcing and cleaning in the hospitality industry in both Singapore and Malaysia.

• In the 2023 edition of its annual global liveability index, the Economist Intelligence Unit (the research and analysis division of the Economist Group) ranked the Bangladeshi capital 166 out of 173 cities.
• While such lists tell a compelling story, it is an inherently biased one.
• The Economist’s global liveability index is based on the experiences of expats rather than citizens.

Translocal lives

• We were examining two kinds of spaces linked to seasonal and labour migration: rickshaw garages and mess dormitories.
• These are typically located on the margins of the city in neighbourhoods such as Mirpur, Rayerbazar, Kamrangirchar, Shonir Akhra and Badda.
• We found that both mess dormitories and rickshaw garages are brimming with movement and business.
• Every night, Jalal slept on a bamboo platform above the garage in Dhaka along with about 25 other people.
• He hoped to be able to move back to his home and business in the countryside after the rainy season had ended.

Multidirectional migration

• The men, women and families housed there work across numerous industries: domestic help, construction, garment factories, rickshaw and car garages, small-scale businesses, street food stalls and local restaurants.
• While typically made of permanent materials, these dormitories can seem unfurnished, as the most common living arrangement within them is on the floor.
• As she explained:
  Every morning I rearrange this room with only one bed into a workshop.
• Dormitories offer flexible rental arrangements, from one-day or weekly rentals to monthly and year-long options.

Cities as places of work

• Cities are said to be overburdened by the pressure of migrants from rural areas, who have no other option than to settle in slums.
• It is shaped by what the geographer Benjamin Etzold terms “translocality”: people organising their lives and their livelihoods across different places.
• Cities need to be discussed not only in terms of their liveability but also in terms of their workability.
• It is also the possibility of maintaining translocal networks and livelihoods – of continuing to live between places.