Counterflows #57: Remote Work Wars, Santiago Siri on Internet Countries, Why Everywhere Looks the Same
A nomadic writer's guide to borderless living.
Welcome to Counterflows by Lauren Razavi. These emails are where I share the best links about borderless living, plus updates on my writing, speaking, and policy work to enhance people’s understanding of digital nomads.
Want to support what I do? Forward the newsletter to a friend or buy me a virtual coffee. You can also pre-order my first book, Global Natives: The New Frontiers of Work, Travel, and Innovation, with a 50% discount.
Hello friends 👋
I have exciting news to share: I’ve joined the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as a Tech Policy Fellow for 2021. I’ll focus on helping policymakers navigate remote work, digital nomads, and the future of citizenship.
I know this will be a surprise to some Counterflows readers. After all, I’m a vocal advocate for building new, internet-era institutions, not reforming the old ones. So, why take a position with a think tank? Why design policy for the benefit of nation-states? Isn’t that just selling out?
Here’s my thinking: I want to see global mobility recognised as a human right within my lifetime. I believe nomads can pave the way to greater equality of opportunity in the world—a status quo where rights are not determined by your birthplace or heritage, but by your humanity instead.
Governments are finally paying attention to the nomad movement and looking at what remote work means for our global future. But there’s a risk that nomads won’t have a voice in those conversations—or the policy that springs from them—if we only exist on the outside. At this juncture, I think there’s value in dialogue and collaboration. So, I’m giving it a try.
My policy project is called The Great Migration: Remote Work, Digital Nomads, and the Future of Citizenship. Subscribe here for an email when my paper is published and an invite to the launch event.
Thanks for reading.
-Lauren
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✌️🤖 Introducing our 2021 Tech Policy Fellows (Tony Blair Institute): Learn more about my TBI project and the work of my fellowship colleagues, a group of upcoming tech experts spread across Europe, Africa, and North America.
🗣️🎬 Santiago Siri on Decentralization, Cryptocurrency, Internet Countries (Plumia): I spoke with democracy activist Santiago Siri as part of the Plumia Speaker Series. Our conversation, now on YouTube, also covers censorship-resistant technology, statelessness, and identity verification.
💼🏢 Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Remote Work (Bloomberg): If you’ve spent time on Twitter recently, you’ve probably noticed the remote work culture wars heating up. Bosses want their workers back in the office, but it seems employees have other ideas.
🏘️🌎 Inside Airbnb’s Plans to Conquer a Reopened World (Fast Company): Today, Airbnb is the world’s most valuable hospitality company. This story analyses founder Brian Chesky’s vision, strategy, and credibility in the post-pandemic travel landscape.
🇺🇸👀 Why Everywhere Looks The Same (Marker x Medium): Urban planning specialist Coby Lefkowitz reveals how U.S. real estate trends are feeding the rise of “placeless places”—cities and neighbourhoods that all look the same.
🏙️👌 Cities with the Best Work-Life Balance 2021 (Kisi): A website that ranks cities according to work intensity, institutional support, legislation, and liveability data. It paints an interesting picture of how effectively different places are promoting work-life balance.
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