From London to Bali: Raymond Williams and communication as transport and social networks.

This article examines Raymond Williams' concept of communication as encompassing both transport and social networks, arguing that contemporary communication studies have marginalized transport’s role, leading to a narrowed understanding of communication and culture. By revisiting Williams’ cultural materialism and his analysis in *The Country and the City*, the article highlights how communication technologies and transport infrastructures are intertwined in shaping social relations, production, and mental conceptions. Using Bali as a case study, it demonstrates how digital media and transport networks reproduce capitalist and colonialist dynamics by constructing Bali as a commodified paradise, revealing ongoing inequalities in mobility and social relations. The article calls for a broader, historically informed definition of communication that integrates material infrastructures and symbolic practices to better understand contemporary social and cultural phenomena.