Galen Murton is Assistant Professor of Geographic Science in the School of Integrated Sciences at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia (USA). Curious about the ways in which power operates spatially through material things like roads, rails, fences, and dams, he studies the processes and effects of infrastructure, investment, and other development dynamics in mountainous border regions of Highland Asia and, more recently, in the United States as well. In addition to teaching courses on cultural geography, critical cartography, development studies, and the history of geography, Galen also enjoys conducting fieldwork with his students in the mountain ranges of Asia and the Americas. The idea for this special issue on labor came about while riding a motorcycle along a really rough road in Nepal.