Why We Need to ‘Unpack’ Regions to Compare Them More Effectively

Abstract

States are finding it increasingly difficult to provide good governance in response to today's problems in a globalised world, as they are often either too small or too big to cope with current crises. One of the strategies of states to remedy this situation is to construct regional levels of governance at the supranational or national level. This has led to the creation of diverse forms of regional governance worldwide, thereby ushering in a neo-Westphalian world of states and regions. In order to advance the research agenda of comparative regionalism, scholars need to ‘unpack’ regions along several conceptual dimensions. This includes seeing regions as economic areas, public goods spaces as well as actors in the international arena. In addition, a distinction needs to be made in studying the projects, processes and products of region building. Moreover, studying regions needs to take into account the discursive context of ‘regionalism speak’. Finally, more attention needs to be dedicated to the internal complexity of regionalisms. In sum, comparing regions is not a straightforward exercise, and in some case regions should not be compared with other regions, but with states.

Keywords:

• comparative analysis
• constructivism
• states and regions
• discourses

Notes

¹ Hurrelmann et al., “The Golden-Age Nation State”.

² Alesina and Spolaore, The Size of Nations.

³ Van Langenhove, Building Regions.

⁴ Morgan, The Idea of a European Superstate.

⁵ See, for instance, Farrell et al., The Global Politics of Regionalism; Laursen, Comparative Regional Integration; and especially Kühnhardt, The Proliferation of Regional Integration. Volumes1 and 2.

⁶ Schmidt, The Future of European Capitalism.

⁷ See Costea and Van Langenhove, “EU's Foreign Policy Identity”.

⁸ In previous publications, such as Ibid.; Van Langenhove and Marchesi, “Third Generation Regional Integration”; and Söderbaum and Van Langenhove, “Introduction”; the three varieties of regional integration were labelled ‘generations’ in order to emphasize that some forms of regionalism built upon previously existing ones. But speaking of generations gives the impression that there is a strict chronological order, which is not the case. Hence, the introduction of the notion of ‘varieties’.

⁹ Chen, “Dimensions of East Asian Production Sharing”.

¹⁰ Asian Development Bank, Institutions for Asian Integration.

¹¹ Acharya, Regional Worlds in a Post-Hegemonic Era.

¹² Van Langenhove, Building Regions.

¹³ Schmitter, “Neo-Neofunctionalism”, 47.

¹⁴ Sbragia, “Comparative Regionalism”, 32.

¹⁵ Söderbaum, “Comparative Integration and Regionalism”, 477.

¹⁶ See, for instance, Fawn, “‘Regions’ and Their Study”; Söderbaum, “Comparative Integration and Regionalism”; De Lombaerde et al., “Problems and Divides”; Warleigh-Lack and Van Langenhove, “Rethinking EU Studies”.

¹⁷ Haas, Obsolescence of Regional Integration Theory, 25.

¹⁸ See Warleigh-Lack, “In Defence of Intra-Disciplinarity” and “Learning from Europe?”; Warleigh-Lack and Van Langenhove, “Rethinking EU Studies”.

¹⁹ For a detailed overview of this debate, see Van Langenhove, “Theoretical Foundations of Experimental Psychology”.

²⁰ Murray and Kluckhohn, Personality in Nature, 55.

²¹ Breslin and Higgott, “Studying Regions: Learning from the Old”, 341.

²² Hurrell, “One World? Many Worlds?”, 123.

²³ Warleigh-Lack and Van Langenhove, “Rethinking EU Studies”.

²⁴ Morgan, The Idea of a European Superstate.

²⁵ Schmitter, “The Nature of Comparative Politics”, 51.

²⁶ De Lombaerde et al., “Problems and Divides”.

²⁷ Warleigh-Lack and Van Langenhove, “Rethinking EU Studies”.

²⁸ Mattli, The Logic of Regional Integration.

²⁹ Katzenstein, A World of Regions; Warleigh-Lack, “Learning from Europe?”; Duina, Social Construction of Free Trade; respectively.

³⁰ Warleigh-Lack and Van Langenhove, “Rethinking EU Studies”.

³¹ See the article by Draper in this issue, 67.

³² See the articles by Camroux, and Malamud and Gardini in this issue, 97 and 116 respectively.

³³ Söderbaum and Van Langenhove, The EU as a Global Player.