Multilayered regionalization in Northern Europe

Abstract

The broadening and deepening of Europe as a macro-region impels processes of expansion, contraction and transformation in sub-regions positioned within the EU and across the EU's border. Recent arguments stress the idea of regionalization as a multi-layered process. Using Northern Europe as a study site, three such layers are explored: territorially bounded regionalization in the voting patterns of the Eurovision Song Contest, networked regionalization in the membership of intergovernmental organizations, and fluid regionalization in the geography of language. The associated regionalization processes are explained and visualized using mixed methodologies. Across these three layers of regionalization we can see the persistence of a Scandinavian core, but various territorial, networked and fluid forms of regionalization are stretching and pulling at the edges of Nordic regionalizations.

Constructing Peripheral Cross-Border Regions in Planning: Territory—Network Interplay in the Barents Region

“…Multilayerism suggests implicitly that supranational regionalism consists o f a host o f complementary regionalizations, operating in somewhat different ways, contexts, and scales (cf Adams, 2012). This underlines the heterogeneity o f the regionalization process and emphasizes the fact that each regionalizing process draws boundaries contextually and dictates whether they are more or less permeable.…”

“…Moreover, the debate illustrates well that supranational regionalism appears as a multilayered process where some (ie, territorial) layers are bent towards more symmetry than others (Adams, 2012, Larner andWalters, 2002). Multilayerism suggests implicitly that supranational regionalism consists of a host of complementary regionalizations, operating in somewhat different ways, contexts, and scales (cf Adams, 2012). This underlines the heterogeneity of the regionalization process and emphasizes the fact that each regionalizing process draws boundaries contextually and dictates whether they are more or less permeable.…”

Constructing supranational regions and identities through branding: Thick and thin region-building in the Barents and Ireland–Wales

“…The concept of regional identity is a complex one, as it refers to both a region’s features and its regional consciousness and identification (Paasi, 1986). In both meanings regional identity refers to distinction, either as discursive foundations of ‘us and them’ divisions (Adams, 2012) or as distinctive attributes. Thus, identity (like brand) serves as a tool for distinguishing one region from another (Zimmerbauer, 2011).…”

“…This makes the region-building asymmetrical (cf. Adams, 2012; Larner and Walters, 2002) with multiple regionalizations that concomitantly splinter the region.…”

Notes on spatial transformation in post-Cold War Europe and the territory work of the European Union

“…Firstly, the territorial expansion of the EU has characterized the debates on European identity since the 1990s. Secondly, Europe has witnessed both EU-orchestrated and more "thematic" regionalization (Adams, 2012) as well as locally and regionally rooted regionalist movements. Thirdly, the deepening political and economic integration in Europe has been coupled with the processes of bordering and de-bordering which concern both the internal and external borders of Europe (Rumford, 2006).…”