2 Opening Up the Land: Infrastructures in Rural Europe

Abstract

Rural territories underwent significant change over the course of the twentieth century, and infrastructures have played a key role in this. Infrastructures are often defined as structures that constitute material realities and enable flows. They also have the agency to enable or limit our movement and behavior. Infrastructures have had at least three effects on rural Europe in the twentieth century. First, infrastructures helped rethink the notion of space. Rural Europe became integrated into national and European fabrics in particularly during the twentieth century. This helped transform rural European spaces, making them part of national spaces and global markets. Second, internal differences persisted despite this integration. Infrastructures did not solve the dichotomy of rural-urban, but in some cases even amplified this. Third, infrastructures come with negative consequences, and rural Europe often was the recipient of this. This led to protest movements that have further shaped infrastructures as well local identities in rural Europe.