The Freeway Journey

Abstract

The I-85 highway corridor through the American South has emerged as a key artery for the global auto industry over the last three decades. An influx of foreign capital has transformed the region into one of the world’s prime automobile manufacturing hubs. The easy mobility offered by I-85 and its tributary networks has been central to the economic and social transformation of the region. However, there are distinct limits and costs to this transformation that are frequently downplayed in the name of a technologically utopian approach to development. The I-85 corridor has facilitated the development of the auto industry in the American South, but it has also contributed greatly to the increasing capitalist exploitation of its people.