Mobility, infrastructure and human environment relations in the Anthropocene

Abstract

This paper examines transport and mobility in rural and remote communities, focusing on trade-offs between development and environmental protection in the Anthropocene. In Sarawak, a state of Malaysia, unpaved logging roads provide basic mobility for remote communities while contributing to the unsustainable and inequitable extraction of natural resources. I argue that the conditions under which transport infrastructure is provided prevent the possibility for sustainable development and pitch local people against a landscape that is the source of livelihoods and identities. The paper is interested in the life and agency of infrastructure and the environment, new materialism and critical approaches to development within human geography.