ABSTRACT
The new regionalism/regionalisms approach (NRA) emphasizing non-state networks and cognitive allegiances and projects has often been posed in opposition to the *old regionalism' literature concerns of issues such as free trade and monetary integration. Like Shaw and colleagues, we believe that regional politics is best understood by looking beyond the focus on the state to what they term 'regional governance' in which 'states, firms and civil societies at all levels negotiate regional development, institutions, infrastructure and peace' (Shaw et al, chapter 12: 198). Additionally, Hettne and Soderbaum (2000) have also noted that the new regionalism functions simultaneously between and among various levels of analysis. Finally, like Grant and SSderbaum (chapter 1) and the other contributors to this volume, we believe that careful studies of 'new regionalism' complicate its analytical categories. In this study, we utilize Zambia's entry into the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) that later (1992) became the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to illustrate the multi-dimensional actors and levels of interactions that have been ongoing in Southern African regionalism. We demonstrate that even when seemingly traditional liberal and realist norms are present, they alone cannot explain the dynamics of the region's activities. Against the traditional realist and neo-realist grain, we concur with Thompson (2000) that SADCC was a 'cognitive' organization 'from the very beginning' in which identity as well as material interests were a motivating factor for creating this African regional grouping.
