Theorizing regionalism(s): When “regions” emerge and interact

Abstract

This chapter reviews the competing and complementing theoretical perspectives dealing with the phenomenon of regionalism. The authors discuss the state of the art in approaches from the main disciplines dealing with regional integration, namely International Relations, New Regionalism and Critical Political Geography. Drawing from these currents, an extended notion of the region as a social space and arena for a multiplicity of actors is developed in such a way as to include its specific occurrence in the South. The authors outline interregionalism as an emergence of regional interaction that brings out certain unvalued characteristics of regions in their institutionalised form. Empirical evidence from the South Atlantic illustrates the character of interregionalism outside of Europe.