Alexandre Afonso
@alexandreafonso.bsky.social
Associate professor at Leiden University. Political economy, migration, welfare states 🇨🇭🇵🇹 🇳🇱 http://alexandreafonso.me
Perhaps some of the Netherlands' housing problems would not be so acute if everyone didn't want to live in a max. 2 or 3-storey terraced house like the Brits, but rather in a flat in a larger building (say 5-6 floors), like the Germans or the Swiss?
November 3, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Perhaps some of the Netherlands' housing problems would not be so acute if everyone didn't want to live in a max. 2 or 3-storey terraced house like the Brits, but rather in a flat in a larger building (say 5-6 floors), like the Germans or the Swiss?
Just discovered the existence of this 💥🚨Portuguese martial art💥🚨🥷 called Jogo do Pau.
November 2, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Just discovered the existence of this 💥🚨Portuguese martial art💥🚨🥷 called Jogo do Pau.
Nice that you are all energised by the dynamism of a young, good looking progressive centrist. Now let me introduce you to the approval rating of Emmanuel Macron.
October 31, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Nice that you are all energised by the dynamism of a young, good looking progressive centrist. Now let me introduce you to the approval rating of Emmanuel Macron.
Not that it matters a great deal, but Wilders's PVV has taken over as biggest party ahead of D66 in the latest count. Difference is 3000 votes, both have 26 seats.
October 30, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Not that it matters a great deal, but Wilders's PVV has taken over as biggest party ahead of D66 in the latest count. Difference is 3000 votes, both have 26 seats.
Only about half of the voters who voted Wilders in 2023 voted for him again.
October 29, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Only about half of the voters who voted Wilders in 2023 voted for him again.
🚨💥Exit poll for Dutch parliamentary election of today: serious chance that the liberal Democrats of D66 come first ahead of Wilders. Sort of a surprise given previous polls
October 29, 2025 at 8:06 PM
🚨💥Exit poll for Dutch parliamentary election of today: serious chance that the liberal Democrats of D66 come first ahead of Wilders. Sort of a surprise given previous polls
Is there any regulatory reason why these slogans have to be so bland or vacuous ("vote for us", "together forward",...) or are all these parties (24, 15 of which hold seats) just exhausted and not even trying?
October 19, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Is there any regulatory reason why these slogans have to be so bland or vacuous ("vote for us", "together forward",...) or are all these parties (24, 15 of which hold seats) just exhausted and not even trying?
The description of Nuno Espirito Santo as the only "black coach" in the Premier League shows how much race is a social construct. I wonder if anyone identified him as black when he was young and had hair? www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
October 4, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The description of Nuno Espirito Santo as the only "black coach" in the Premier League shows how much race is a social construct. I wonder if anyone identified him as black when he was young and had hair? www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
And the answer of the minister in charge is just "we'll just make sure we don't send lhgbti+ people there"
September 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
And the answer of the minister in charge is just "we'll just make sure we don't send lhgbti+ people there"
Uganda has passed one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world and is described as a living hell for lgbtq+ people. Meanwhile, the Netherlands strikes a deal with the Ugandan government to send rejected asylum seekers there.
September 27, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Uganda has passed one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world and is described as a living hell for lgbtq+ people. Meanwhile, the Netherlands strikes a deal with the Ugandan government to send rejected asylum seekers there.
Before this I thought 21st-century fascism would be sophisticated and insidious but it is really cheap, loud and explicit.
September 19, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Before this I thought 21st-century fascism would be sophisticated and insidious but it is really cheap, loud and explicit.
There is a town in Switzerland where there are more Portuguese nationals than Swiss nationals www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-od...
September 14, 2025 at 9:01 AM
There is a town in Switzerland where there are more Portuguese nationals than Swiss nationals www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-od...
Teaching a class on Democracy tomorrow and used this dataset of electoral democracy in US states (2000-2023) by @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social. Very interesting but grim, of course democracypolicylab.berkeley.edu/state-democr...
September 8, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Teaching a class on Democracy tomorrow and used this dataset of electoral democracy in US states (2000-2023) by @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social. Very interesting but grim, of course democracypolicylab.berkeley.edu/state-democr...
Incidence of measles over time in US states: look at the graph after 1980, when vaccine mandates entered into force.
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
September 7, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Incidence of measles over time in US states: look at the graph after 1980, when vaccine mandates entered into force.
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
So this paper shows that it's actually economic issues that have led voters to move from populist right to social democrats, rather than social democrats moving right on immigration. It actually had the opposite effect.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
September 7, 2025 at 12:56 PM
So this paper shows that it's actually economic issues that have led voters to move from populist right to social democrats, rather than social democrats moving right on immigration. It actually had the opposite effect.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Academic publishing is the most profitable business in the world www.newscientist.com/article/mg24...
September 7, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Academic publishing is the most profitable business in the world www.newscientist.com/article/mg24...
At least it's only for him, easy to verify. Wonder how you show you have one at Berkeley? Do you leave your prize on your windscreen?
September 4, 2025 at 12:26 PM
At least it's only for him, easy to verify. Wonder how you show you have one at Berkeley? Do you leave your prize on your windscreen?
At my alma mater, receiving a Nobel prize gets you a reserved bike parking spot.
September 4, 2025 at 12:16 PM
At my alma mater, receiving a Nobel prize gets you a reserved bike parking spot.
Totally normal detail about Javier Milei english.elpais.com/internationa...
September 1, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Totally normal detail about Javier Milei english.elpais.com/internationa...
E.g. this conversation reported in an article on Chega voters was made up.
August 20, 2025 at 12:43 PM
E.g. this conversation reported in an article on Chega voters was made up.
The correspondent for Spain and Portugal of the Dutch (quality) newspaper NRC suspended. NRC documents that three articles on Portugal were fraudulent: in two instances the reporter made up interviews that never took place
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
August 20, 2025 at 11:39 AM
The correspondent for Spain and Portugal of the Dutch (quality) newspaper NRC suspended. NRC documents that three articles on Portugal were fraudulent: in two instances the reporter made up interviews that never took place
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
The global gold trade is just very stupid www.ft.com/content/5653...
August 14, 2025 at 7:19 AM
The global gold trade is just very stupid www.ft.com/content/5653...