The 2nd Roadology Workshop was convened November 8-10 by Professor Yongming Zhou (University of Wisconsin Madison) at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen China. Building on the 1st Roadology Workshop (University of Chongqing, December 2014), the three-day meeting at SUSTech brought together active members of multiple research groups studying the social politics of road development across the Asia region. The Infrastructures of Democracy team was represented by Tulasi Sigdel, Lagan Rai, and Shyam Kunwar. In addition to IoD, multiple members of other roads studies research groups were also present at the workshop. This includes: four members of Ed Simpson’s SOAS-based ERC: Roads research group (Luke Heslop, Srinivas Chokkakula, Debbie Menezes, Mustafa Khan); one member of James Sidaway’s NUS-based Borders, Mobilities, and Infrastructures group (Jasnea Sarma); members of Yongming Zhou’s SUSTech and University of Wisconsin-Madison-based Roadology group (Yi Huang); and an affiliate member of Martin Saxer’s LMU-based ERC starting grant Remoteness and Connectivity: Highland Asia and the World group (Galen Murton).
The workshop comprised over thirty papers delivered across two parallel sessions, convened in both English and Chinese. The IoD team presented three papers across two panel sessions: Building Roads, Bridging Borders: Infrastructural Development, Transport Connectivity, and the Social Lives of Roads and Local Impacts of Rural Road Development in the Trans-Himalaya. Tulasi presented “Political Economies and Political Rationalities of Road Building in Nepal: Notes from the Archives,” Lagan presented “Rural Roads Matter: Debate and Practice of Road Building in the Eastern Plains of Nepal,” and Shyam presented “The Politics of Road Development: A Comparative Study of Charikot‐Singati‐Lamabager Road in Central Nepal and Bhalubang‐Pyuthan Road in Western Nepal.” In the spirit of an academic workshop, the setting fostered productive conversations and strategic, collaborative planning in addition to many excellent paper presentations.
The workshop also yielded several distinct outcomes, including both publication projects and future collaborative opportunities. As a direct result of conversations held during the Roadology Workshop, participants recognized the potential for and began formulating plans for the organization of an international ‘Roadology Consortium’ to be hosted with administrative support from SUSTech (website coming soon). Additionally, Professor Yongming Zhou has also organized an edited volume of workshop proceedings to be published by SUSTech Press in 2018. Furthermore, Luke Heslop and Galen Murton have initiated an additional edited volume project that will include new papers and projects that were not delivered at the workshop. In addition to these forthcoming publications, many of the participants also look forward to upcoming meetings at SOAS (July 2018), the Annual Conference on South Asia at the University of Wisconsin Madison (October 2018), and the workshop on Infrastructure in Asia at the University of Colorado Boulder (October 2018).
The energy and outcomes of the Roadology Workshop demonstrate the strength of and enthusiasm behind road studies projects in North America, Europe, and Asia today. It is exciting to anticipate what’s next for many of us involved. Please stay tuned…!
Galen Murton
Geographic Science Program
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia USA
