Regional Dynamics and Globalization: The Case of the PDO-PGI Policy in Switzerland

Abstract

This paper examines the regional dynamics emerging in Switzerland through Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) devices, in which a large number of typical agricultural products get involved. Extending R. Balme's works on neo-regionalisms, we approach those dynamics as a new, globalization-oriented way of regional mobilization. Our empirical research shows how professional bodies together with regional authorities (“cantons”), through a relevant use of the PDO-PGI device, enact a clear, legitimate presence of rural territories in globalization. The PDO-PGI device can thus be analyzed as a negotiated way of connecting local and global, especially favored by the successful adaptation of neo-regionalism to federalism logics in the Swiss context. © 2002 The Swiss Political Science Review.