Towards a Political Economy of Roads: Experiences from Peru

Author: Fiona Wilson¹

Source: Development and Change, Volume 35, Number 3, June 2004 , pp. 525-546(22)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

This article looks at why states build roads, and in what circumstances roads become a priority for rural people. To distinguish between situations of spatial autonomy and isolation, a concept of territorializing regime is elaborated. This is employed to discuss road-building undertaken by the state in the Peruvian Andes and to examine practices of mobility in Andean indigenous/rural society. While a location ‘off the beaten track’ could be a source of autonomy in the past, the author outlines reasons why people in post-conflict, neo-liberal Peru now dedicate much time and energy to road-building, even though this may potentially lead to loss of land, community control and greater impoverishment.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2004.00364.x

Affiliations: 1: International Development Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark

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