The Mining Road That Sustains People

Abstract

By analyzing the history, future visions, and current social life of a former mining road, this article explores the transformations of the road’s dominant orientations, varying from an extractive one to one that sustains life by supporting food-related practices. The overarching research question is, when and why did such shifts occur? I build on the concepts of food sovereignty and alimentary infrastructure, as well as the literature on roads, to show that infrastructure projects can be a double-edged sword, one facet of which is industrial and colonial, and the other is alimentary and sustaining. I argue that food sovereignty practices thrive at the disjuncture of infrastructure ruination and renovation, and the road, designed for purposes beyond food and eating, always had the potential to play a nourishing role. However, the extent to which the road has contributed to food sovereignty varies throughout its history, depending on available technologies, state projects, and the material transformations of surrounding built and natural environments.