In 2017, British journalist David Goodhart offered an enlightening read of Western politics. In The Road to Somewhere, he split our societies into two broad groups. The “Anywheres,” about a quarter of the population, were university-educated, urban and mobile. Their identity relied on degrees and successful careers. The “Somewheres,” more numerous, were less educated. They had strong roots in one place and believed in nation and family. For Goodhart, being an Anywhere meant being on the winning side of globalization, often progressive, open to change and comfortable with diversity. Therefore the Somewheres felt left behind. That’s why Brexit and Donald Trump’s first election were read as the Somewheres’ revenge. Goodhart’s framework quickly became popular with academics, consultants and politicians. 

Almost ten years later, however, the framework seems somewhat dated. I’m someone who has lived much of her working life thinking of herself as an Anywhere, between Paris, London and Munich. Now I am struck by how much the balance of advantages seems to have shifted. And this has huge implications for how we organize work and think about the future.

The most visible Anywheres are the people who sell the tools of placelessness: Silicon Valley founders, AI evangelists, crypto believers, and the whole work-from-anywhere industry. Many of them have now moved sharply to the right. They now reject progressivism, DEI programs and workers’ rights, resent taxes, dismiss climate concerns and treat governments as obstacles. D. Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign and helped launch the career of America First’s most prominent young voice.

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