Exploring the New South American Regionalism (NSAR) Exploring the New South American Regionalism (NSAR) Exploring the New South American Regionalism (NSAR (original) (raw)
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Latin American regional governance today represents a conglomerate of commercial, political and trans-societal welfarist integration projects. In this overlapping and sometimes conflicting scenario what Latin Americanness should mean, and how integration projects should respond to current challenges of global political economy are being redefined. The focus of the paper is twofold: to better understand current regional transformations and to discuss what new developments mean for how we theorise non-European regionalism. Looking at the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Union of South American Nations we ask: How are we to understand regional agreements that are grounded in different systems of rules, alternative ideas and motivations that contest ‘open regionalism’? We argue that Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) represent different pathways to regional building, creating foundations for post-hegemonic and post-trade regional governance. We thus challenge New Regionalist approaches that assume regionalism as taking place within and modelled by neoliberal economics, establishing the debate around ‘old’ vs. ‘new’ regionalism. As these categories are limited in grasping the full meaning and implications of post-hegemonic regional orders, we discuss UNASUR and ALBA as ‘arenas for action’ to understand divergent practices, outcomes and types of regionness emerging in alternative regional spaces in South America.
Region, regionness and regionalism in Latin America: Towards a new synthesis (NPE)
New Political Economy, 2012
regional governance today represents a conglomerate of commercial, political and trans-societal welfarist integration projects. In this overlapping and sometimes conflicting scenario what Latin Americanness should mean, and how integration projects should respond to current challenges of global political economy are being redefined. The focus of the paper is twofold: to better understand current regional transformations and to discuss what new developments mean for how we theorise non-European regionalism. Looking at the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Union of South American Nations we ask: How are we to understand regional agreements that are grounded in different systems of rules, alternative ideas and motivations that contest 'open regionalism'? We argue that Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) represent different pathways to regional building, creating foundations for post-hegemonic and post-trade regional governance. We thus challenge New Regionalist approaches that assume regionalism as taking place within and modelled by neoliberal economics, establishing the debate around 'old' vs. 'new' regionalism. As these categories are limited in grasping the full meaning and implications of post-hegemonic regional orders, we discuss UNASUR and ALBA as 'arenas for action' to understand divergent practices, outcomes and types of regionness emerging in alternative regional spaces in South America.
Evolution and challenges of Latin American regionalism
The central purpose of the paper is to describe the historical driving forces of regional processes in Latin American and, thereafter, analyze what characterizes such processes up to 2013 and what are the challenges faced by Latin American regional arrangements. In order to do so, the paper will be based upon the following research question: how has Latin American regionalism evolved over time and what are its current challenges?
The Routledge Handbook to Global Political Economy Conversations and Inquiries, 2020
PROOFREADING VERSION. FOR QUOTATION PURPOSES PLEASE ACCESS THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION AT THE DOI. The chapter addresses the two main regionalist projects that have taken place in South America since its countries’ independence from Spain and Portugal, namely the Andean Community (AC) and the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).8 By focusing on a number of case studies for each regionalist project, it will be argued that collective identity and regional institutions played an important role in orienting state action towards regionalism, for they significantly shifted state action that could have taken another direction facing the presence or absence of certain material incentives. In the case of the AC, it will be shown that cultural, ideological and intergroup collective identities were determinant for the unfolding of regionalism in the three case studies observed, where regional institutions operated also as powerful sources of state identification with one another, and as pushers for bringing cooperation forward. In the case of the Mercosur, it will be contended that in the absence of strong regional institutions, and of a cultural and an intergroup identity, the ideological dimension of collective identity was the main driver of regionalism in the two case studies addressed. But before proceeding with this analysis, a word must be said about South America as a region and South American regionalism as distinct from a broader Latin American one.
Theorizing Latin American Regionalism in the 21st Century
2016
This short article takes the new developments in Latin American regionalism in the 21 st century and the academic production which is derived from them as a starting point. The article reflects on some methodological aspects of this recent literature and explores possible pathways that could guide the research agenda in this area. It is argued that (i) the debate on Latin American regionalism could be better connected to the debates on the future of IR, (ii) a pragmatic and nuanced approach is needed with respect to the comparability of cases and to the location of Latin America and the EU in comparative regionalism, and (iii) the rich empirical material that is generated (or could be generated) by Latin American regionalisms is underutilized in analytical work that speaks to the global community of comparative regionalists.
Regionalism in Latin America. Navigating in the Fog
The more recent waves of regionalism in Latin America have been associated, respectively, with structuralist, neoliberal and post-liberal economic and political experiments in the region. Structuralist regionalism was inaugurated in the 1950s and somehow survived until the 1970s; open regionalism followed in the 1980s and 1990s, and was replaced, to a certain extent, during the next decade by post-liberal regionalism. However, the limits, if not demise, of post-liberal experiments in the most important economies of Latin America pose the question of the future of regionalism. In this changing situation, this paper explores several questions that rise about the future of regionalism in Latin America. Will regionalism hold sway in Latin America? Will present integration schemes continue in the region? Will new entities arise? Will there be a convergence in diversity between integration projects in Latin America? Will the new context of global uncertainties lead to a revival of regionalism?
Post-Liberal Regional Dynamics of South America - Inductive vs. Deductive Approaches to Regionalism
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, regionalism as an approach for studying International Relations has been gaining a momentum and popularity, yet, it has been mostly dominated by Eurocentric and deductive postulations, unable to successfully answer many regional issues. The focus of this thesis is to examine the validity of the major regionalist theories in the context of South America, a region that offers an ideal environment for a study of post-liberal regionalism. The thesis attempts to answer what are the main shortcomings of the contemporary regionalist debate. The main hypothesis is that while the contemporary debate of regionalism is dominated by the deductive approach, this can only direct us to some general variables and factors, but it is the inductive approach that leads us to correct assumption by expulsing extra-regional influences while building the hypothesis up. The hypothesis is tested on the South American regional dynamics through four thematic clusters based on the major assumptions of the regional theories that test their validity. The analyzed trajectories of the South American regional dynamic prove that the deductive approach is valuable in directing the research the right way in some general patterns, but it fails to make correct postulations about the type of the regional integration and its expectations. On the other hand, the inductive approach picks up the regional dynamics without the extra-regional experiences and allows to describe and identify the region-specific realities. The thesis ultimate shows that the study of international relations should be inductive in its nature while relying on some systemic variables and factors in its inquiries. Yet, the global multipolarity empowers specific regional dynamics and values that are determinant.
The Shifting Landscape of Latin American Regionalism
Current History, 2012
Brazil's rise, coupled with the diminished influence of the United States and the increasingly salient global role of China, has reshuffled the kaleidoscope of regional organizations.…
“Stranger Things”: the future of Latin American regionalism
María Victoria Alvarez, 2020
Latin American attempts at regionalism have been pursued through different waves. The last wave, post-liberal or post-hegemonic regionalism, is fading. Building on contributions from International Political Economy, European Studies and International Relations, the paper aims at answering two main questions: how can we characterize the current paths of regional integration in Latin America considering the trends of the last ten years? What can we expect of Latin American regionalism over the next decade? Grounded on a qualitative content analysis, we address three premises based on the past trajectory of Latin American regionalism in order to grasp some of the present and (possible) futures trends: membership of regional organizations, institutional design of regional organizations and the role of the United States. After contrasting these elements with recent Latin American regionalist developments, the paper engages in a creative exercise of forecasting. The purpose is not to pretend to know the future nor to predict it but to present two imaginable scenarios: a short-term scenario and a longer-term scenario. Maybe we are about to witness some “stranger things” in the future of Latin American regionalism, opening up to different realities, different explanations and alternatives.
Globalization, 2021
This introduction charts the current complexity of Latin American (LA) regionalism. Seemingly pulled in opposite directionsbetween dependency/autonomy, competition/cooperation, state/civil society power, capitalism/socialismthese dynamics constitute a significant reconfiguration of the LA regional landscape. And yet, such complexity tends to elude complete capture by any singular theoretical approach. The collection of papers in this Special Issue reflects both the multiplicity of the Latin American region(s) and the theoretically pluralist terrain of contemporary scholarship on LA politics and international relations. The introduction will first outline the complexity of 21 st century LA regionalism and the challenge this poses for scholars in the field. Secondly, we make the case for an 'integrative pluralism' approach to unpacking the multiplicity of regionalisation projects, from both above and below. In bringing together diverse perspectives to a common research problem, we hope to contribute to ongoing debates in IR/IPE over the 'pluralist turn', and what might be done to push this collective project forward. Thirdly, we briefly explore the multi-scalar nature of region-building, encompassing both various spaces/scales as well as political actors. Finally, we outline the contributions to the Special Issue, that span the terrain of LA regionalism from above (political institutions) and below (transnational movements).