Towards a Political Economy of Roads: Experiences from Peru

Abstract

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.