Region-building Processes Research Articles

An Analysis of Türkiye’s Role in the Black Sea Region Building Process

An Analysis of Türkiye’s Role in the Black Sea Region Building Process

‘Nordic added value’: a floating signifier and a mechanism for Nordic higher education regionalism

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the theoretical debate over a global upsurge in higher education (HE) regionalisms which pursue different region-building processes and create policy spaces beyond national boundaries. Focusing on the Nordic countries, the paper studies parallel processes of intra-Nordic and European HE and research cooperation. Although individual Nordic countries opt for different kinds of relationships with the European Union (EU), they have participated in the Europeanisation process of HE and research while intensifying their Nordic regional identity. Drawing on spatial logics in European integration and HE regionalism theories, the concept of ‘Nordic added value’ (NAV) and three Nordic flagship programmes, this paper addresses two questions: What are the links and outcomes of parallel regionalising processes of the EU-Nordic and intra-Nordic cooperation in HE and research? How has ‘Nordic added value’ been utilised to strengthen Nordic HE regionalism? The paper argues that spatial logics provide new and holistic understandings of rationales for region-building processes, whereas NAV, being a floating signifier, generates regionalising ideas and functions as a distinctive mechanism of Nordic HE regionalism. Both spatial logics and NAV render opportunities for Nordic regional imaginaries, identity-building and Nordic-EU mutual policy learning.

How to wield regional power from afar: a conceptual discussion illustrated by the case of France in Central Africa

What does it take to belong to a region and exert power over it? The scholarship on regional powers has elaborated sophisticated indicators to establish nuances of power, but the depiction of the region has remained vague. Most approaches are characterised by a narrow territorial interpretation that does not properly take into account power wielded by geographically distant actors. Using the case of France in Central Africa this article argues that a distant state can a) hold a dominant share of military, economic and soft power, b) use this power for hegemonic behaviour and c) be recognised as a leader in the region by both internal and external actors. The main specificity of distant actors as regional powers is the greater necessity for a legitimising narrative. France tackles this hurdle with the help of regional organisations that reproduce imperial structures. By holding the informal status of a quasi-member in regional governance structures, France participates in region-building processes from the inside rather than the outside.

Contemporary regionalism and The Scandinavian 8 Million City: spatial logics in contemporary region-building processes

ABSTRACT This paper shows how certain spatial logics are used to support contemporary region-building processes, and how these become taken for granted and institutionalized in specific regional settings. These spatial logics are also representative of the spatial logics dominating contemporary regionalism and affect the ways ‘spaces’ and ‘citizens’ are treated and valued in regional planning and policy. Few studies have shown how spatial logics are implemented, transformed and turned into policy across a wider set of regions. Exemplified by The Scandinavian 8 Million City project, the paper shows how this regional imaginary was constructed by the project promotors using several representative spatial logics of what constitutes the ‘best’ region as idealized in planning and policies.

El regionalismo es lo que la academia hace de él

This article aims to deconstruct the analytical category of regionalism in Latin America to initiate a reflection within the field of studies of regional integration centered in questioning what regional integration and regionalism are. First, we analyze the two central knowledge networks that have exerted a normative pressure on the political processes of region-building (praxis) as well as knowledge construction (theory). Second, we address the problem of the adjectives of regionalism by presenting the different proposals and highlighting their benefits and challenges. Third, we recover an intentional set of definitions that allow us to build common minimum understandings around our object of study. On this basis, the article concludes with a work proposal for the field of study.

Territory–network interplay in the co-constitution of the Arctic and ‘to-be’ Arctic states

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the (re)production of state and supranational regional spaces through speech acts. Emphasis is placed especially on speech acts that ‘construct’ regions and concurrently (re)position specific states as ‘legitimized’ actors within supranational space. Relatedly, focus is directed to how such repositioning is linked to territory–network interplay in establishing and contesting power relations in supranational regional institutions. The paper discusses first how the region-building process in the Arctic – and power relations within the Arctic Council – has relied on territorial legitimation in which ‘Arctic states’ are rendered as the key ‘Arctic’ actors. The focus is then shifted to how France and Japan, states considered ‘non-Arctic’, have recently repositioned themselves in relation to the region in order to gain legitimacy. The key conclusion of the analysis is that by engaging with the observer criteria set by the Arctic Council, ‘non-Arctic’ states are redefining themselves in relation to the region, simultaneously (re)producing the Arctic region and non-Arctic states in relation to each other. This paper also argues that in attempting to dismantle some of the territorial criteria on which the established power relations within the Arctic Council rely, these states are pursuing the reinstitutionalization of a ‘global’ Arctic with renegotiated power relations.

An anatomy of authority: the Bologna and ASEM education secretariats as policy actors and region builders

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the sources of authority behind the Bologna and ASEM secretariats’ technocratic appearance and administrative routines, and argues that they are transnational policy actors in their own right. By drawing on principal-agent theory and the concept of ‘authority’, it offers an alternative framework for understanding the various forms of authority. The case studies generate three important insights. First, it shows how the secretariats derive their authority from the tasks delegated by states, the moral values and social purpose they uphold, and the expertise they possess. Second, it compares how the different governance structures of the Bologna and ASEM education processes impact on the secretariats’ authority. Third, it highlights how the secretariats exercise their respective authorities and exert their discernible influence at different stages of higher education policy-making and region-building processes.

Regional integration in Central Asia: From knowing-that to knowing-how

The paper examines regional integration in Central Asia in the context of two types of knowledge, that is, knowing-that and knowing-how. While knowing-that prioritizes representational (i.e. “talking”) practices of actors to explain region-building processes, knowing-how focuses on non-representational (i.e. “doing”) practices. The article demonstrates that the orthodox scholars, who deal with the region of Central Asia, mostly employ knowing-that to explain region-building processes. The article criticizes knowing-that, assuming that this type of knowledge limits our understanding with regard to how regions get their boundaries and symbolism in the era of globalization and standardization of sectoral activities. Thus the article develops and introduces an alternative knowing-how framework to better understand the region-building processes in Central Asia and beyond it.

SOUTH AMERICAN REGIONAL INTEGRATION INITIATIVE (IIRSA)

This study poses the question, to what extent do external actors influence the ways and the degrees to which Latin America develops with a focus on regional development levels in infrastructure, and subsequently, in what ways prominent nation-states regionally and as members of institutional entities (i.e. MNCs and BNDES) in South America, have been leading actors in regional integration efforts, particularly IIRSA projects. In this vein, this research argues that the US-led FTAA arrangement, perceived as a threat, and at the same time China’s global and regional presence, identified as an opportunity, accelerated the nations of South America, particularly Brazil, which already had an aspiration for regional and global power, in reconfiguring the South American region as a whole. Therefore, this paper examines dynamics of the two most important international actors (a.k.a G2) who play a role in influencing the region-building orientation and procedure in South America. This will be followed by a further study of the nature of Brazil as a level of nation-state that attempts to expand its political economic ‘territory’ in order to meet its national interests: economic and geo-political power in the process of regional infrastructure development. To discuss the importance of dynamics of the region-building process, interviews and official documents among others will be employed. Finally, this paper opens a further realm of study paying special attention to local actors in the procedure of regional unity, with particularly focus on the Inter-Oceanic Highway project.

Tourism and cross-border regional development: insights in European contexts

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to structurally analyse the role of tourism in regional development processes in European cross-border regions with different historical development paths. Departing from an institutional perspective, the research is based on comparison of the position of tourism in region-building processes in the newly developing German–Czech cross-border region and the more ‘mature’ German–Belgian borderlands. Results indicate that the development of local cross-border tourism projects is no guarantee for positive destination-wide regional development impacts. In some cases, these projects may even reinforce asymmetrical socio-economic development directions of neighbouring borderlands. Rather, the socio-spatially equitable distribution of tourism benefits in cross-border contexts depends on several process-based aspects. These include the presence of ‘thick’ (cross-border) institutional arrangements, multi-scalar representation of tourism stakeholders in decision-making processes and a transversal position of tourism in regional development strategies. However, both with cross-border institutional ‘under-mobilization’ (Germany–Czech Republic) and with institutional ‘over-mobilization’ (Germany–Belgium), the informal network position of institutional brokers proved key for safeguarding the integrative character of tourism in the inevitably complex cross-border region-building process.

Regionsbildung im Schatten des Metropolendiskurses. Das Fallbeispiel der Region Südwestfalen

Since the mid-nineties, debates about spatial policy in Germany have been marked by a dominance of metropolitan discourses. Apparently these discourses are associated with a gradual shift of spatial policy priorities that more and more give up the primary goal of spatial cohesion in favor of a more competitive approach. In the course of the dominant metropolitan discourse especially regions at the edge of and between metropolitan areas are faced with an increasing pressure of regional profiling. With regard to the case study Südwestfalen the paper focuses on region building in the shadow of the metropolitan discourse. With reference to the Foucauldian concept of governmentality processes of region building and the formation of soft spaces are understood as expressions and means of neoliberal governmentality, and their underlying governmental rationalities and technologies are investigated. The empirical analysis reveals how dominant regional-economic rationalities, logics of inter-municipal cooperation and constraints of subsidy policies frame the process of region building on the discursive level. By analysing discourses and practices of regional marketing and measures of infrastructural self-services it is shown exemplary how contingent technologies of regional self-governance help to govern the process of region building on the collective level and simultaneously unfold subjectifying effects by providing patterns of social meaning and action.

Nuevas y antiguas identidades regionales: conflicto, exclusión e hibridaje. El caso de la región del Maule

This article reflects on the processes of region building, considering the case of the Maule region in Chile. Drawing upon the categories of old and new regions, as well as functional and deep identities (Passi, 2011; Terlouw, 2011), the territorial effects related to the Chilean process of regionalization, started in the 1970s are reviewed. Using different sources of information, the inequalities generated in the territory by this process are shown, conceptualized as the constitution of the new region, based in the two main cities of the region; and the precarization of the old region, represented by the old provinces. The first region is developed at the expense of the second one. Despite these differences, two hybridations are observed; the new region includes the old one, and vice versa. It is concluded that the management of this dichotomy is key to the processes of regional development.

Between the Eastern Partnership and Eurasian Integration: Explaining Post-Soviet Countries’ Engagement in (Competing) Region-Building Projects

This article enriches the understanding of region-building processes in the post-Soviet space by explaining why countries engage into regional projects. Based upon the analysis of the drivers behind Armenia’s and Moldova’s commitment to Eurasian integration and association with the European Union, respectively, it develops a more nuanced approach to region-building. The article points to the domestic factors behind engagement in regional projects and shows that the range of variables explaining countries’ choices is actually much broader (and their interaction more complex) than suggested by existing theories.

Institutional (Dis)integration and Regional Development Implications of Whisky Tourism in Speyside, Scotland

Actively positioning tourism in regional socio-economic contexts and development plans is regularly seen by researchers as a prerequisite to practically unfold tourism-related regional development potential. However, conceptual elaboration and additional empirical evidence are still needed to gain a more critical understanding of this notion. Therefore, the objective of this research is to explore tourism-related delivery mechanisms for regional development by focusing on the role of tourism in larger region-building processes. Using an in-depth interview-based case study on the supply and policy of whisky tourism in Speyside (Scotland), we found that the mode of commodification and institutionalisation of whisky tourism in Speyside provides an unstable basis for reaching destination-wide regional development aims. Despite high-profile regional branding, the regional institutionalisation provides barriers for local stakeholders to integrate in destination management processes. Networking vehicles with multi-scalar actions are necessary to foster empowerment of local stakeholders and to facilitate regional integration of stakeholder interests. We conclude that an integrative position of tourism in the region-building process of destinations, facilitated by the mode of multi-scalar commodification and institutionalisation of territorial resources in the destination, is central for reaching tourism-induced regional development aims.

‘About Time the Regions Were Recognised’: interpreting region-building in Western Australia

ABSTRACTThe region-building process in Western Australia is examined using Paasi's theoretical framework of ‘regional institutionalisation’. The paper examines the formalisation of the regions in Western Australia from the 1940s with the first attempts to regionalise the State, through to the recent political and policy shifts. A particular focus is given to the pivotal legislation passed in 1993 which created nine Regional Development Commissions, and the implications of the post-2008 Royalties for Regions program. The discussion examines the trajectory of the Western Australia regions through the lens of Paasi's model. The paper shows that the Regional Development Commissions have had a critical role in fulfilling the different stages of the model.

EL PROBLEMA REGIONAL: DESARTICULACIONES REGIONALES Y SECTORIALES EN EL DESARROLLO ARGENTINO

This paper aims to contribute to the current debate on (regional) development. It suggests that regionalist analyses and policies have turned a blind eye to certain dynamics that influence the performance of regional spaces. Based on a case study of Argentina (2001-2014) in a region that produces agricultural machinery (am), we propose to make progress in opening up a more introspective view of the regionalist approach, considering: a) the role of the region-building process in the broader national and macro-political project, b) a description of certain extra-local factors that stimulated technological change and improved the regional demand for am and c) a description of actions taken by the national State to promote the regional economic regeneration of am.

Region-Building and Security: The Multiple Borders of the Baltic Sea Region After EU Enlargement

Recent geopolitical changes and the strengthening of the security/economy nexus have multiplied the types and functions of territorial borders in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). These borders have been insufficiently addressed in previous research even though macro-regions cross over multiple borders, which are highly affected by geopolitical events and conflicts. This paper contributes to the debate about multiple borders with particular emphasis on the question how de- and re-bordering affect the regionalisation process in practice and how it influences the cooperation within the BSR. The results, which are based on a discourse analysis of a corpus of documents, show that the region-building process in the BSR itself creates new borders, which define the level of the member state’s political participation in the region. The governance of macro-regions would benefit from the development of such analytical frameworks that take into account the impact of the multitude of borders on the practical level.

Scientific collectives in region-building processes (Reprint)

Abstract During the last 30 years, growing demand for science-based policy making has contributed to the mobilization of scientific cooperation alongside transnational political arrangements for addressing environmental issues. Following the contemporary trend toward regionalizing environmental policy and practice, many of these scientific joint efforts have focused on a regional scale. This article examines regional scientific cooperation in the context of the institutionalization of mountain regions in Europe. Such cooperation can be observed from the Pyrenees to Central Asia, albeit with a degree of variation that largely remains unexplored in scientific research. Sometimes scientific cooperation served to lay the groundwork of a mountain policy initiative, other times it appeared in its wake; some examples appear as loose networks of individual scientists, others are set up as formalized monitoring and observation centers; finally, some scientific joint efforts are formally linked to, or incorporated in a mountain policy initiative, while others are largely independent. The article proposes a new typology for understanding the interactions between regional scientific mobilization and regional policy making and provides up-to-date portraits of six main cases.

Scientific collectives in region-building processes

During the last 30 years, growing demand for science-based policy making has contributed to the mobilization of scientific cooperation alongside transnational political arrangements for addressing environmental issues. Following the contemporary trend toward regionalizing environmental policy and practice, many of these scientific joint efforts have focused on a regional scale. This article examines regional scientific cooperation in the context of the institutionalization of mountain regions in Europe. Such cooperation can be observed from the Pyrenees to Central Asia, albeit with a degree of variation that largely remains unexplored in scientific research. Sometimes scientific cooperation served to lay the groundwork of a mountain policy initiative, other times it appeared in its wake; some examples appear as loose networks of individual scientists, others are set up as formalized monitoring and observation centers; finally, some scientific joint efforts are formally linked to, or incorporated in a mountain policy initiative, while others are largely independent. The article proposes a new typology for understanding the interactions between regional scientific mobilization and regional policy making and provides up-to-date portraits of six main cases.

Mapping regions, framing projects: A comparative analysis on the role of mapping in the region-building process of two European regions

For the last two decades, publications within the “new regional geography” have given little emphasis to cartography. This paper examines the specific role of mapping, its political stakes and modalities, in the region-building process. It illustrates this with an analysis of mapping and database production in the institutionalization process of two “project regions”—the Alps and Carpathian mountains—and in two related, on-going efforts to promote macro-regional strategies. This paper argues that the production of maps and databases deserves to be seen not only as a technical moment, or simply as one output among others in the region-building process, but rather as a component of the process itself, a component that is especially decisive and complex in that it makes explicit the connection between the territorial and the relational dimensions of region-making. The two cases illustrate that mapping is a significant component of the region-making process for three main reasons: (1) it gives shape to the region, provides arguments for its construction, and therefore is a decisive cognitive and rhetorical tool for territorialization; (2) it contributes to the shaping of relational arrangements for the corresponding region; (3) its contribution is important at all different stages in the region-making process – conceptualization, creation, and consolidation – through various modalities.