What does regional studies study? From sub-national to supra-national regional spaces orGrossraumof sovereign governance

Abstract

This article makes a case for expanding the scope of current versions of "regional studies" to include greater emphasis upon transnational regions as of equal if not greater importance compared with an exclusive focus upon sub-national regions. The latter more restrictive approach is typically predicated on the continued centrality of state borders against which the dominant notion of regions as subnational entities is constituted and reiterated. Drawing upon a case study of the African Union our study provides a framework, a critically revised Grossraum theory, for addressing the emergence of a new pluralistic and multipolar world order characterised by supra-national regions and regional organizations. Traditional Schmittian notions of Grossraum are shown to be in need of substantial revision before they are able to adequately accommodate and explain the empirical details of our case study.

The AU’s journey to an African Criminal Court: a regional perspective

“…Like many similar concepts, the meaning of regionalism is not always clear-cut. One approach has been to study regionalism from a statist perspectivein this sense regions are subsets of nation states (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017). Another view of regionalism or regional studies is of supranational institutions exercising sovereign power across national borders (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017;Agnew 2013).…”

“…One approach has been to study regionalism from a statist perspectivein this sense regions are subsets of nation states (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017). Another view of regionalism or regional studies is of supranational institutions exercising sovereign power across national borders (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017;Agnew 2013). In this latter sense, regionalism transcends the traditional state-centric model and entails a pooling of sovereignty by nation states for economic, political, and security objectives.…”

“…In this latter sense, regionalism transcends the traditional state-centric model and entails a pooling of sovereignty by nation states for economic, political, and security objectives. Accordingly, one study (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017) has argued that developments within the AU fit within the Schmittian regional model of Großraum which literally translates into "large spaces". Under this model, member states within a political space, and motivated by a core "political idea" or identity, develop a system of regional cooperation that generally seeks to jettison external influence from states outside of that spatial region (Salter & Yin, 2014;Schmitt, 2011).…”

Political geography III: Bounding the International

“…Legal jurisdiction is being reworked territorially as the law becomes attached to particular bodies and not just particular locations (Gilbert, 2018). This underscores the need to pay close attention to the transnational and supranational spatial arrangements that we too often fail to notice (Uwazuruike and Salter, 2017). Borders are spaces of new connections where people not simply yield to sovereign power but also transform that power (Jones et al, 2017).…”

New spatial readings of the state

“…Methodological nationalism is an outcome of this way of thinking and the field of regional studies has not been free from such influences. In this issue, Uwazuruike and Salter (2016) challenge this tendency in regional studies by criticizing the continued centrality of state borders and the traditionally dominant notion of regions as subnational entities. Alternatively, they suggest expanding the scope of regional studies to include greater emphasis on transnational regions.…”