1

제목

서강대학교 교수학습센터부소장 정유성

Chapter 4: Region and Regionness

September 21, 2015Prof. Dr. Kyu Young LEE

2

Studying Region: Learning from the Old, Constructuring the New

The Study of Regions

(1) The First Wave

(2) The New Wave

3

(1) The First Wave

• Fostered by “Functionalism”

• The empirical impetus being the formation of European Economic Community

• Begins in 1950s and stagnates in 1970s

4

(2) The New Wave

• Starting from mid 1980s

• A response to a number of significant regional projects (EC(EU), NAFTA, MERCOSUR, ASEAN, APEC)

5

The New Regionalism Theory

• Has to answer to more “whys” and “hows’ of regionalism.

– How regionalisation is socially constructed?

– Why some regions develop into higher levels of regionness?

– What are the world order implications?

6

Theorising the Rise of Regionness

Metatheoretical postulates

(1) Global social theory

(2) Social constructivism

(3) Comparative regional studies

7

(1) Global social theory

• A comprehensive social science that abandons state-centrism• Must distinguish the new aspects from the old• Has to come to terms with the micro-macro relation since the

distinction between international and domestic is being transcended.

• Contributing to a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, historically based international social science.

8

(2) Social constructivism

• Provides a theoretically rich way of conceptualizing the interactions between different factors

• Emphasizes the importance of shared knowledge• It considers political communities as constructed by

historically contingent interactions and not as an independent given

9

(3) Comparative studies

• Comparative analysis should be used with care in social sciences to avoid generalization outside the relevant context

• Helps against culture-bound interpretations and ethnocentric favoring

• Very crucial for theory building

10

Theorising regionness (1)

• Regionness is a degree to which a particular area constitutes a distinct entity, distinguished as a coherent territorial subsystem

• NRT(the New Regionalism Theory) describes the process of regionalization in terms of levels of regionness

11

• Five generalised levels of regionness are outlined– Regional space– Regional complex– Regional society– Regional community– Region-state

Theorising regionness (2)

12

Regional space

• A functioning society cannot exist separated from territory• A region is strongly rooted in territorial space• A potential region can be identified as a primarily

geographical unit• Lack of organized international society• This level of regionness can be referred to as a “pre-

regional zone”

13

Regional complex

• Frequent contact between human communities giving rise to a regional social system

• A real starting point for the regionalisation process• Implies widening translocal relations between human

groups and influences between cultures• One of the main concerns at this level being security and

stability of the regional system(“conflict formation”)

14

Regional society (1)

• The crucial regionalisation process develops and intensifies• Multidimensional regionalisation: Emergence of processes

of interaction between many state and nonstate actors in several areas: economic, political, cultural.

This level of regionness may be resulted from formalised regional cooperation or more spontaneously

15

• Increasing interdependence and relaxed inward-orientation

• The close ties contribute to formation of a transnational regional economy and regional civil society

Regional society (2)

16

Regional community

• Transformation of the region into a distinct identity• A “security community”, where the level of regionness makes

it unimaginable to solve conflicts by violent within the region• Micro-regions relate to the larger macro-region in a mutually

reinforcing manner• In order for high levels of regionness to exist, regionalisation

requires degree of compatibility of culture, identity and fundamental values

17

Region-state

• High level of cultural heterogeneity• Homogenisation does not imply cultural standardisation,

rather compatibility between differences within a pluralist culture

• Region-states cannot be based on force• Constitutes a voluntary evolution of sovereign national

communities into a new form of political entity

18

Regionness and Security Communities

• Main differences between NRT and Security Communities approach– SC starts from a system of states vs. NRT’s pre-state

historical approach– NRT emphasizes that not only nation-states have been

providers of security and welfare– NRT, unlike SC, considers regions in their geographical

territorial sense

19

Conclusion (1)

• The global tendency of regionalisation needs more theoretical research

• Regionalisation processes are related to globalization and they interact under different circumstances of regionness

• Regions are rooted in territory• The actors behind regionalist projects are not states only, but

large number of different institutions, organizations etc.

20

• Is the regionalisation process really limited in its geographical borders?

• Does religion play an important role in the process of regionalisation?

• How can the international organizations like IMF, Worldbank influence processes in different regions?

Conclusion (2)