ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes the case for strengthened regional social policy as a necessary element of effective global social governance. The discussion is organized around four main sections. First, we set out the context of a research and policy focus on regional social policy, rehearsing arguments about the possible impacts of existing forms of globalization upon national social policy on the one hand and the difficulties of securing a global social contract with effective global social policies on the other. We then proceed to set out the case in principle for a regional social policy and several advantages of regional social policy and regional social integration are identified. The next section proposes possible social policy mechanisms along the axes of regional social redistribution, regional social regulation and regional social rights, and elaborates idealized examples of regional standard-setting, regional policy coordination and regional identity mobilization. Finally, the chapter considers some of the challenges and issues for advocates of regional social policy.
