About the Book
In this ambitious two-volume open access collection of essays, a diverse group of scholars worldwide reflects on the past, present and future of the (comparative) regionalism research program. Volume I provides building blocks for regionalism studies in the coming years by indicating what a pluralistic theoretical and methodological toolbox to study regions could look like, how disciplinary boundaries can be bridged, and the relevance of comparative regionalism research. In consecutive sections, the chapter authors present their answers to the following guiding questions: What are the global origins of regionalism thinking? How relevant is mainstream theorizing (still)? And, finally, how could/should global regionalism look like? This collection of essays celebrates and highlights the research and scholarly undertakings of the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) on its 25th anniversary.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction to Essays on Global Regionalism (Vol. I): Past, Present and Future of Regionalism Studies.- Part I: What are the Global Origins of Regionalism Thinking?.- Chapter 2. Pan-Africanism: A Theory of Regional Integration.- Chapter 3. Nkrumah, Somalia, and the Regional Ebb and Flow of Pan-Africanism, 1960-1966.- Chapter 4. Rethinking the Theory of Representation Through Election: Crafting an African Narrative.- Chapter 5. Regime-Boosting Regionalism.- Chapter 6. Interrogating the Divide: Evaluating the African Regionalism Scholarly Community.- Chapter 7. The Middle East Amid the Changing Global Politics of Regionalism.- Chapter 8. Chinese Perspectives on New Regionalism in International Relations.- Chapter 9. Regionalism and the Role of Indigenous Populations in Big Ocean Striving States.- Chapter 10. The Latin American Forgotten Constitutional Precursor: Miranda’s Regional Integration Scheme as the Geographical Dimension of Democratic Governance.- Chapter 11. Back to the Roots: 19th and 20th-Century Thinkers and Contemporary Latin American Regionalism.- Chapter 12. Customs Union Proposals in Early 20th Century South America.- Chapter 13. New Strategic Regionalism, South-South Cooperation and Decolonial/DeWesternisation Approaches. Theorisation from the South with Applications to ALBA-TCP and BRICS.- Chapter 14. Liquid Regionalism: A Conceptualisation to Understand Latin American Regionalism.- Chapter 15. Unravelling the Puzzle of Greek Regionalism: Balancing Between History, Reform, and EU Influence.- Chapter 16. From Empire to Cooperation: Transregional Organisations Among Former Metropolises and Colonies and Their Cultural Justifications.- Chapter 17. Western and Eurocentric Origins of Regionalism: Rethinking Identity Beyond Binaries.- Part II: How Relevant is Mainstream Theorising (Still)?.- Chapter 18. The (Continuing) Promise of Mainstream Theorising.- Chapter 19. The Contentious Concept of the Region in the Theory of Economic Integration.- Chapter 20. Differentiated Disintegration: An Analytical Framework.- Chapter 21. To What Extent Are Diffusion Theories and Mainstream Theories of Regional Integration Complementary? The Contribution of Sociological Institutionalism to the Study of Regional Organisations Beyond the European Union.- Chapter 22. Customs Union Theory in the Current Phase of International Trade Relations.- Chapter 23. International Organisations, Competition, and Market Saturation: The Market of European Finance Institutions.- Chapter 24. The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas: A Universal Compass for Regional Monetary Integration?.- Chapter 25. One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Why Eurocentric Assumptions Limit the Explanatory Power of Mainstream Regionalism Theories in the Global South.- Chapter 26. Contextualising Mainstream Regionalism Theories: Lessons from the Global South.- Chapter 27. From Intra-Africa Functionalism to Continental Federalism: Theorising Regionalism and Regional Cooperation in Africa.- Chapter 28. The Fading Shadow of the Neo-functional Theoretical Approach to Regionalism: Evidence from European and African Regionalism.- Chapter 29. Regionalism and the Challenges of Pluralistic Security Communities: Case Study of the East African Community.- Chapter 30. ASEAN Security Community Building: Theory and Practice.- Chapter 31. How Can (Neo) Functionalism Contribute to the Study of Latin American Regionalism?.- Chapter 32. From Europe to Latin America: Lessons in Mainstream Theorising for Regional Disintegration.- Chapter 33. Between Ups and Downs: The European Theoretical-Conceptual Approach to Regionalism and How to Rescue It.- Chapter 34. The Evolution of Comparative Regionalism: A New Typology.- Part III: How Could/Should Global Regionalism Look Like?.- Chapter 35. Delineating a Global Regionalism Agenda.- Chapter 36. Key Concepts for Global Regionalism: Towards a Common Language for an Eclectic Field.- Chapter 37. Potential and Challenges to Comparative Regionalism from a Global South Perspective.- Chapter 38. Epistemic Bridges: Understanding and Comparing Regionalisms Through Ideas.- Chapter 39. How do Regional Organisations Contribute to the Shaping of Regional Epistemic Communities? An Invitation for Further Research.- Chapter 40. Approaches to Global Regionalism: The Contribution of World History, Global Political Economy, and Area Studies.- Chapter 41. Words of Power: Literature and Language in the Comparative Study of Regionalism.- Chapter 42. What is in a Name? From the Geo-Economics of the Asia-Pacific to the Geo-Politics of the Indo-Pacific.- Chapter 43. Is the Study of Comparative Regionalism Fit for Purpose? Rethinking Regionalism’s Relevance in Times of Crisis.- Chapter 44. Outlining the Foundations for Regional Justice. A Conversation in Political Philosophy and Global Regionalism.- Chapter 45. Global Regionalism and Interregionalism.- Chapter 46. Overlapping Regionalism: A New or a Delayed Research Agenda?.- Chapter 47. Bottom-Up, Affective Communities: The Deterritorialisation of Regional Security.- Chapter 48. Reading and Writing Global Regionalism from Africa.- Chapter 49. Re-Evaluation of Contemporary Approaches to Regionalism: In Quest of a Non-Western Research Agenda.- Chapter 50. Towards Non-Western Regionalism: What Does the Regional Level of Analysis Explain About Contemporary IR?.- Chapter 51. Regionalism’s Post-Soviet Eurasian Challenge: A Critical Perspective on Comparative Regionalism.- Chapter 52. Decentering Regionalism Thinking: A Comparative Perspective from Latin America and Eastern Europe.- Chapter 53. Arriba, Abajo, al Centro y Adentro: A Multilevel Framework for Explaining Regionalisms.- Chapter 54. South America Region-Building Through Barry Buzan’s Lens.
About the Author :
Amitav Acharya is the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and Distinguished Professor at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC. Previously he was a Professor at York University, Toronto and the University of Bristol. He is currently Honorary Professor at Rhodes University, and Guest Professor at Nankai University. He was the inaugural Boeing Company Chair in International Relations at the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University, Fellow of Harvard's Asia Center and John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Christensen Fellow at Oxford. His recent books include Re-imagining International Relations (Cambridge, 2022, with Barry Buzan), The Making of Global International Relations (Cambridge, 2019, with Barry Buzan), Constructing Global Order (Cambridge, 2018); and The End of American World Order (Polity, 2014, 2018).
Philippe De Lombaerde is Director of the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Lecturer at the Brussels School of Governance (VUB). Previously, he worked at Neoma Business School (Rouen), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá), University of Antwerp, and National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) (Bangkok). His recent edited books include: Indicator-Based Monitoring of Regional Economic Integration (Springer, 2017), The Political Economy of New Regionalisms in the Pacific Rim (Routledge, 2019), and the Handbook of Regional Cooperation and Integration (Edward Elgar, 2024).
Beatrix Futák-Campbell is Assistant Professor of International Relations (IR) at Leiden University College, based at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, and a co-convenor of the Leiden University Centre for International Relations (LUCIR). She is a Marie Curie fellow at Aberystwyth University. Previously she worked at the University of Hamburg, University of Oxford, Vienna School of International Studies, University of Edinburgh and St Andrews, as well as at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the German Marshall Fund, and the British Civil Service. She has published Practising EU Foreign Policy: Russia and the Eastern Neighbours (Manchester University Press), and Globalizing Regionalism and International Relations (Bristol University Press).
Lynda Chinenye Iroulo is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University in Qatar. Her upcoming book project is: Institution Building in a Multi-actor Postcolonial Region: How the African Union Navigates Diverse Demands. Before joining GU-Q, Lynda was a research fellow and is now an associate at the GIGA Institute of African Affairs, Hamburg. She was also part of the Global Governance unit at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), Berlin. She co-founded the African Policy Initiative (API).
Juliana Peixoto Batista is a Professor and researcher in the International Relations Area of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), Argentina, where she also works as coordinator of the LATN Network and as a member of the WTO/FLACSO Chair. She teaches at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the National University of San Martin (UNSAM).
