ABSTRACT

This volume provides a unique open inter-disciplinary dialogue across the Humanities and Social Sciences to further our understanding of the phenomenon of regions and regionalism in a globalized world both at the theoretical and empirical levels.

What comprises a region? What are the different regional dynamic processes that take place? What is the relationship between the regional and the global? What role does identity building play? Bringing together scholars from various disciplines within and across the Social Sciences and the Humanities to reflect on these questions, the book explores how regions are imagined, constructed, understood, and explained in different academic disciplines. Each chapter addresses these common questions and uses its own disciplinary lenses to answer them. In addition, the volume offers interesting reflections on the academic borders constructed in the study of regions, thus demonstrating the importance of obtaining insights from both social scientists and humanities scholars in order to better understand the relevance of regions in a complex and globalized world.

An important work for scholars and postgraduate students in many fields, including political science, international relations, sociology, economics, geography, history and literature, as well as for those interested in regionalism and area studies.

chapter 1|15 pages

Regions in a globalized world

Bridging the Social Sciences–Humanities gap

chapter 6|14 pages

A new cultural geography of East Asia

Imagining a ‘region’ through popular culture *

chapter 7|14 pages

Nationalism, religion, and sub-state national identity in Southeast Asia

Regional and global relevance

chapter 8|16 pages

The Middle East

A volatile region in transition

chapter 10|18 pages

‘Linguistic peace’?

Reflections on the interstate security consequences of Iberian American linguistic kinship versus European linguistic fragmentation

chapter 11|15 pages

Regions of history

The International Congress for the Defense of Culture, Paris 1935

chapter 12|16 pages

The role of translatio/n in the constitution of community (regional) identities

The interdependence of Europe and Latin America

chapter 13|17 pages

How the Ethiopians changed their skin

The Orient, Africa, and their diasporas

chapter 14|17 pages

Conclusions

Imagining, perceiving, constructing, explaining, and understanding regions