Road, river, and rail: An infrastructural history of the mise en valeur of Laos

Keywords: Infrastructure, development, railway, China, Laos, Southeast Asia
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

In 2017, Xi Jinping visited Laos during which time state heads introduced the Laos–China Economic Corridor to foster investments along the Laos-China Railway. Like many Belt and Road corridors, it did not originate with the initiative. Trade routes have crisscrossed northern Laos for centuries, and the BRI corridor is reminiscent of similar iterations of connectivity, from the precolonial Tea-Horse Road to 1990s infrastructure programs to connect Asia. This paper develops a critical history of infrastructure development in northern Laos since the mid-19th century. It does so through an analysis of connective infrastructures—rivers, roads, and rails—using a lens of mise en valeur and “unblocking” Laos. I focus on successive eras of infrastructure situated within the dominant development paradigms of their times. These eras produced distinct and uneven geographies and constructed ideas of what Laos and d/Development looked like at various points in time. I draw attention to the politically-influenced locations of these infrastructures, situating them in their political-economic contexts. I demonstrate how, over time, many of Laos’s infrastructural objectives were externally-driven and have since been reproduced by the Lao government. Laos’s construction under the BRI is more than a “China” phenomenon; rather, infrastructural residues, histories, and legacies shape project processes and pathways on the ground in Laos. Examining successive infrastructural periods reveals how seemingly disparate plans/aspirations come together across time and challenge China-centric stories about the railway corridor.