New from the University of Chicago Press: Concrete Leviathan: The Interstate Highway System and State Building in Modern America (2026), by Teal Arcadi. A description from the Press:
In Concrete Leviathan, historian Teal Arcadi denaturalizes the interstate highway system, interrogating the ideologies, fiscal mechanisms, and legal tools that led to the construction of a vast and permanent physical infrastructure—and then made it all but impossible to change course. Arcadi argues that the US interstate highway system was built by an unaccountable regime of law and political economy that systematically created and insulated structures of governance. The power of these administrative and physical structures has been such that even when people have mobilized to oppose or try to change them, their protests have tended only to reveal the extent and power of the infrastructural state.
At the same time, Concrete Leviathan shows how resistance to this infrastructure’s inequities generated new democratic ideas and practices, pointing toward more participatory structures of government and more equitable models of state building.
Praise from reviewers:
"Scholars of infrastructure and urban planning have shown how the physical structure of our roads encodes patterns of movement and development in ways that make racial and economic disparities durable. In this revealing and timely new book, Arcadi deepens these arguments by showing further how the way we have built our infrastructure has shaped the nature of political power and governing institutions themselves in ways that challenge long-term values of democracy, participation, and effective governance. At a time where the question of reimagining governing institutions and capacity is front and center, and essential for the prospects for American democracy, Arcadi's accounts of history, institutional development--and the commitment to a more effective yet democratic mode of future governance-- are essential reading for policymakers, scholars, and advocates alike." — K. Sabeel Rahman“Concrete Leviathan makes a significant contribution to the field, combining deep historical research with a critical analysis of infrastructure, race, and state power. It challenges conventional narratives about public works projects and brings new insights into how state building, more generally, can reflect and reinforce societal inequalities. The book stands as an essential addition to the historiography of American political economy and the history of infrastructure.” — Jason Scott Smith
More information is available here. See also the book-related posts on Arcadi's substack, Gridworks.
-- Karen Tani
