The Road : An Ethnography of (im)mobility, Space, and Cross-border Infrastructures in the Balkans

This Book Is An Ethnographic And Historical Study Of The Main Albania-greece Highway. But More Than An Ethnography On The Road, It Is An Anthropology Of The Road. Highways Are Part Of An Explicit Cultural-material Nexus That Includes Houses, Urban Architecture And Vehicles. Complex Socio-political Phenomena Such As Eu Border Security, Nationalist Politics, Post-cold War Capitalism And Financial Crises All Leave Their Mark In The Concrete. This Book Explores Anew Classical Anthropological And Sociological Categories Of Analysis In Direct Reference To Infrastructure, Providing Unique Insights Into The Political And Cultural Processes That Took Place Across Europe After The Cold War. More Specifically, It Sheds Light On Political And Economic Relationships In The Balkans During The Socialist Post-cold War Period, Focusing Especially On Albania, One Of The Most Under-researched Countries In The Region. Categories Such As The House, Domestic Life, The City, Kinship, Money, Boundaries, Nationalism, Statecraft, Geographic Mobility, And Distance--to Name But A Few--seem Very Different When Seen From, Or On, The Road.-- From Dromocracy Toward A New Critical Dromology -- The Road To Albania -- The State(s) Of The Road -- The City And The Road -- Fear Of The Road And The Accident Of Postsocialism -- The Road Of/on Transition -- Domesticating The Road -- Infrastructures, Borders, (im)mobility, Or The Material And Social Construction Of New Europe. Dimitris Dalakoglou. Includes Bibliographical Refarences (pages 176-198) And Index. "This book is an ethnographic and historical study of the main Albania-Greece highway. But more than an ethnography on the road, it is an anthropology of the road. Highways are part of an explicit cultural-material nexus that includes houses, urban architecture and vehicles. Complex socio-political phenomena such as EU border security, nationalist politics, post-Cold War capitalism and financial crises all leave their mark in the concrete. This book explores anew classical anthropological and sociological categories of analysis in direct reference to infrastructure, providing unique insights into the political and cultural processes that took place across Europe after the Cold War. More specifically, it sheds light on political and economic relationships in the Balkans during the socialist post-Cold War period, focusing especially on Albania, one of the most under-researched countries in the region. Categories such as the house, domestic life, the city, kinship, money, boundaries, nationalism, statecraft, geographic mobility, and distance--to name but a few--seem very different when seen from, or on, the road."-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 The road......Page 2 Contents......Page 8 List of figures......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 14 Map of Albania......Page 16 1 From dromocracy toward a new critical dromology......Page 18 2 The road to Albania......Page 32 3 The state(s) of the road......Page 50 4 The city and the road......Page 70 5 Fear of the road and the accident of postsocialism......Page 99 6 The road of/on transition......Page 115 7 Domesticating the road......Page 150 8 Infrastructures, borders, (im)mobility, or the materialand social construction of new Europe......Page 179 Appendix 1 Notes on language, terminology,and pseudonyms......Page 189 Appendix 2 Population statistics......Page 192 Bibliography......Page 193 Index......Page 216 An ethnographic and historical study of the main Albania-Greece highway, exploring the post-Cold War political and cultural transformation of Europe through the examination of cross-border infrastructure. -- .