Introduction: the world transformed - grounding the belt and road initiative
File(s)
Author(s)
Apostolopoulou, E
Cheng, H
Silver, J
Wiig, A
Type
Chapter
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors set out the need to think through the material transformations proceeding across the planet as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) enters its second decade. While scholarship has focused on the geopolitical and geo-economic dynamics and implications of the BRI, this chapter argues that more attention needs to be paid to the territorial restructuring that is proceeding at pace. To do so, the authors develop a framework that better comprehends this process through direct, indirect and other kinds of territorial restructuring with a focus on the infrastructural geographies being produced. They go on to argue that critical approaches to these material transformations can draw from two intellectual traditions: political ecology and infrastructure studies. These structure the analysis of the rest of the edited book, which is introduced thematically.
Editor(s)
Apostolopoulou, Elia
Cheng, Han
Sliver, Jonathan
Wiig, Alan
Date Issued
2025-09-29
Citation
The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative: Infrastructures and Political Ecologies on the New Silk Road, 2025, pp.1-28
ISBN
9781529240665
Publisher
Bristol University Press
Start Page
1
End Page
28
Journal / Book Title
The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative: Infrastructures and Political Ecologies on the New Silk Road
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Publication Status
Published