ABSTRACT
Regions are ‘in’ in national, European and international politics. Regionalization, regional integration, the ‘Europe of Regions’, regional identity, regional development – the term region occupies many buzz words in contemporary politics and social science discourses, particularly since the 1990’s worldwide New Regionalism discourse (Beeson, 2005; Calleya, 2000; Katz, 2000; Keating, 1998, 2004; Lahiri, 2001). Europe is rescaling (see Keating, Chapter 1, in this volume) and seemingly moving away from the clear cut nation state system of the first half of the century. Regional concepts of territory experience a revival in many European states, often transcending state borders. Still, in spite of the multiplying use of the term ‘region’ in politics and social science discourses, there is still a lack of clear definitions, when we use the term region, acknowledging that regions’ status within the hybrid systems of governance and identity prevailing in today’s globalized world are different. This is even more the case in relation to borders and border studies, where there is a lack of clarity with the terms of border- and cross-border region and their relation to regional identity. On the basis of the Danish–German border region of Sønderjylland–Schleswig, this article will present different regional concepts applied to this region in different periods of history and reflect on the flexibility of ‘regions’ as well as characteristics of successful region-building.
