ABSTRACT
Utilising a new regionalism approach, this chapter seeks to examine the dynamics of micro-regional processes in two case studies in Southern Africa (Söderbaum and Taylor 2008). As has been detailed in the introductory chapter in this volume, new regionalism emphasises both the formal (state-led) as well as informal, non-state characteristics of regions. In doing so, the state and non-state constituent actors and the processes that they stimulate and/or work alongside shape both long-established and also emergent regional spaces. At the same time, the new regionalism approach also focuses heavily upon the dialectical relationship between globalisation and regionalisation, theorising that the two uneven processes cannot be separated. This is a particular insight for this chapter as the Spatial Development Initiatives (SDIs) under discussion were established precisely as regional responses to globalising developments. Thus even a heuristic separation of the two cannot make sense when studying the SDIs and their progressive growth as spaces for both local and international capital.
