Isolation as a Development Strategy: Perspectives from an Ethiopian Village

Abstract

Spatial integration and infrastructure provision generally, and transport in particular, are commonly seen as key elements of rural development strategies. Yet there is little in the literature which seeks the perspectives of rural communities regarding their connections to the outside world. Furthermore, geographies of development and even, as yet, recent post-development perspectives have done little to challenge the dominant view that spatial integration is desirable. This paper presents the findings of research in an isolated rural village in Ethiopia which, despite being linked only by a long and dangerous walking track, has actively resisted the construction of a road to link it to the outside world. Isolation, according to the residents of the village, has benefited them by protecting them historically from outside control and exploitation. Local conceptions of development, whilst being far from uniform, then have questioned and reimagined the role of transport in the people's sense of well-being.

Keywords:

• Rural development
• Ethiopia
• roads
• isolation