1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9911034567003321

Autore

Arpornsilp Ratchada

Titolo

The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative : Infrastructures and Political Ecologies on the New Silk Road

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Bristol : , : Bristol University Press, , 2025

©2025

ISBN

1-5292-4066-2

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (275 pages)

Altri autori (Persone)

WoodsOrlando

MaoCaixia

BondPatrick

VeglioSimone

GambinoEvelina

LiuXiaofeng

LangguthHannes

HanacekKsenija

GuBowen

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Front Cover -- The Material Geographies of the Belt and Road Initiative: Infrastructures and Political Ecologies on the New Silk Road -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Notes on the Contributors -- Introduction: The World Transformed - Grounding the  Belt and Road Initiative -- The new geography of the Belt and Road Initiative -- The BRI as territorial restructuring -- How the BRI is territorially restructuring the planet -- The need for a grounded approach to the BRI -- Critical approaches to the material transformations of the BRI -- Developing a critical research agenda -- The political ecologies and infrastructures of the BRI -- Note -- References -- 1 The Contested Coal-​Fired Power in the Belt and Road Initiative: Indonesia as a Case Study -- Introduction -- Overview of Chinese investment in CFPPs in Indonesia -- Case studies -- Teluk



Sepang power plant, Bengkulu -- Celukan Bawang power plant, Bali -- Sumsel-​8 (Bangko Tengah) power plant, South Sumatra -- Coal-​fuelled Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park, North Maluku -- Lessons for BRI governance: embodied energy justice and blue justice -- References -- 2 Dynamics of Grassroots Collectivism in Thailand's Special Economic Zones: Cases of Natural Resource Conflicts within the  Belt and Road Initiative -- Introduction -- Development context of selected SEZ cases -- Chiang Khong SEZ in Chiang Rai provincial development context -- Nongkhai SEZ development context -- State-​making through SEZ territorialization -- Grassroots movements against the SEZs -- Conclusion -- References -- 3 Railways of Hope, Railways of Conflict: Governance of the Domestic Environmental Impacts of a Belt and Road Project -- Introduction -- Environmental governance failure, scale and the political ecology of the BRI -- Railways of hope and a symbol of China-​Laos friendship.

Land use adjustment for railway occupation -- Water transfer project for water shortage -- Conclusion -- References -- 4 A Debt to Whom? The Nature Questions in Sino-​Sri Lankan Development Narratives -- Introduction -- The political economy of Sino-​Sri Lankan entanglements -- A debt to whom? The nature question in focus -- Debt-​for-​nature swaps and the promises of  ecological futurity -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 Waiting, Acceleration, Stabilization: Polychronic Temporalities as Drivers of a Large-​Scale Chinese Green Technology Project in Thuringia, Eastern Germany -- Introduction -- Time, temporalities and infrastructure -- The case of Arnstadt-​Ichtershausen in Thuringia, Eastern Germany -- Entangled temporalities driving the deployment of CATL's gigafactory -- Waiting -- Acceleration -- Stabilization -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- References -- 6 Silk Road on Ice:  Extractivism, Climate  Change and Resistances -- Introduction -- Arctic colonialism and expansion of the Belt and Road on Ice -- Resistance to climate colonialism, extractivism and infrastructural 'off ice' necropolitics -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 7 Donor Competition, Local Agency and Contingency: Jakarta-​Bandung High-​Speed Railway in Indonesia -- Introduction -- Pragmatic neutrality and donor competition in Jakarta-​Bandung HSR -- Local agency in the Jakarta-​Bandung HSR -- Conclusion -- Funding statement -- References -- 8 A Postcolonial Belt and Road Initiative? Dependency, Development and Geopolitics in China-​Latin America Relations -- Introduction -- Commercial relationships -- Financial relationships -- Infrastructure and the BRI in Latin America -- Dependency, development and postcolonial relationships -- Conclusion -- References -- 9 The Elusive Rainbow at the End of the Belt and Road: Chinese Investment, Finance and Trade Controversies in Southern Africa.

Introduction -- BRI reaches South Africa -- China's persistent overaccumulation of capital and the BRI as a spatial fix -- Contradictions reflected in South Africa's  Chinese-​driven special economic zones -- Infrastructure corruption amid growing coal-​export dependency -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 10 Beyond the Logistical Monolith: Multiplicity and Differentiation Along the Adriatic Corridor -- Introduction -- Global China in Piraeus and Trieste -- Port logistics -- New urbanizations -- Conclusion -- Note -- References -- 11 Capitalizing on the Logistical Future: Discounting Uncertainty in the Georgian Belt and Road Initiative -- A layering of projects -- A materialized bet on the future -- The labour of contracts -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 12 Infrastructure-​Led Development, Urban Transformation and Inequality in China's Belt and Road Initiative: A Marxist Postcolonial Geographies Analysis -- Introduction --



Infrastructure-​led development, urbanization and postcolonial geographies in the New Silk Road -- A tale of three cities -- Albert Royal Docks: building a (Chinese) city within the City of London -- Piraeus port in Athens, Greece: the head of the dragon -- Colombo Port City: Sri Lanka's 'new Dubai' -- The emerging urban geographies of the New  Silk Road -- Conclusion -- Note -- References -- Afterword:  The Material Futures of  the Belt and Road Initiative -- Extractivist corridors -- Socio-​environmental conflicts and environmental justice -- Uncertain futures -- Local agency, counter-​movements and resistance corridors -- A comparative and community-​engaged research agenda -- References -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), commonly called the New Silk Road, is a huge infrastructure project currently revitalising or creating new trading routes and large developments across the globe.It is estimated to cost up to US8 trillion and impact more than 65% of the world's population.