ABSTRACT
The aim of this book has been to identify ways in which scholars of regional organizations and processes in different parts of the world can stop speaking past each other and instead begin a series of ongoing or at least iterated dialogues. This aim derives from our shared concern that potentially illuminating insights for both the general study of regions and the investigation of particular regions would otherwise be lost, and thereby reduce the effectiveness of theory while also screening out many possibilities for inspiration and ‘Eureka moments’ for all scholars of global regions. As Fred Söderbaum makes clear in his contribution to the volume, comparative study of regional organizations and processes has been fragmented and often also weak. Our hope in this volume has been to move this debate onwards, to help scholars of particular regions deepen their understanding of work on other regions and the associated study communities, and to identify where cross-fertilization between these communities would be helpful.
