ABSTRACT
The use of territorial principles is, according to Keating (1997, p. 383), everpresent but often elusive. The currently rising popularity of 'regions' (as subnational units) and processes of regionalization offers a good illustration of this double characterization. The core concepts of 'region' and 'regionalization' remain highly fuzzy concepts, open to many interpretations and usages. Moreover, the various narratives that underpin regionalization - economic, environmental, social, political - far from produce a coherent or even compatible story. Yet, despite the fuzziness and tensions, the concepts of 'region' and 'regionalization' have come to underpin major processes of administrative and political reform, at the levels of regions, nations and the EU. As part of these processes, the notions of 'region' and 'regionalization' have been translated in practices related to demarcation of territories, competencies and tasks, resulting in recognized territorial boundaries, in organizational structures with set responsibilities and resources, and in procedures and scripts of regional action. It appears that, in this translation, conceptual fuzziness and incommensurability are partly addressed. Boundaries are fixed, organizations are named and framed within an institutional context, procedures detailed in handbooks, practices consolidated in institutional routines, etc.
