We often hear about neighbourhoods being evicted, houses being torn down, and communities organising against the state or private developers, demanding fair compensation, proper consultation, and the right to remain on their land.

Development, Displacement and Democracy: The Place of Eviction Protests in Malaysia is a paper that examines how these eviction protests function as an important but often overlooked form of democratic participation in Malaysia’s development process. The paper argues that eviction protests should be recognised as legitimate democratic actors and recommends stronger legal protections, institutionalised public consultation, and formal inclusion of CSOs to ensure more participatory and just development in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this episode, we unpack the paper with its author, Jeremy Lim. 

Image Credit: socialis.net