Paper short abstract:

Based on my ethnographic field research, in my paper, I will unpack hopes, plans, and desires through narratives of different societal dimensions, including users of old and new roads, the expert community, and the media and public discourse related to Kyrgyzstan's Alternative North-South Road.

Paper long abstract:

Across Kyrgyzstan, like in other parts of the world, each road is a part of large infrastructure development agendas initiated by various international and national actors and of the local life-worlds. However, the infrastructure projects from the beginning of the idea and design to the construction phase have different perceptions, imaginations, and expectations on the part of the participants in infrastructure relations. Hence, scholars conceptualize roads as complex accumulations of social relations between humans, materials, capital, terrain, climate, discourses and the state (Harvey and Knox 2015; Joniak-Luthi, 2019; Harvey 2018).

In my paper, I will focus on the complex life of roads in Kyrgyzstan and how it affects the (dis)connectivity narratives. Based on my ethnographic field research, in my paper, I will focus on the Alternative North-South Road, a major road construction project which started in 2014 in Kyrgyzstan. This road carries different missions and promises: from strengthening the nation's unity to being part of larger international economic corridors linking the Central Asian region. In addition, it is expected to open up the potential of the country's inland areas by exploring untapped natural resources.

Usually, road projects are developed and implemented at the state level with the expert and donor community; and often, the outreach to local communities is at a superficial level. Therefore, I plan to unpack hopes, plans, and desires through narratives of different societal dimensions, including users of old and new roads, the expert community, and the media and public discourse related to Kyrgyzstan's Alternative North-South Road.