The thesis is rooted in the new regional geography paradigm that gained strength in geographical thought since the 1980s. This approach is characterized by emphasizing the socially constructed nature of regions; thus, regions are scrutinized as a historically contingent process. A region is formed, reproduced and eventually disappears in time. The thesis works with the assumption that a plurality of regions, that exists in changing time- space contexts of different mechanisms and meanings, can be experienced de facto in any particular area. In simpler terms, it can be understood as a plurality of regional images produced on the one side by regional actors to fulfil their particular goals and on the other regional images produced by inhabitants in and outside the region in order to understand the outside world and position themselves within it. Motivation for the production of images can vary, from a simple manifestation of one position in the regional system, through the attempt to attract attention towards the region to exploitation of the regional potential in order to fulfil particular power-oriented aims. The general idea of a region can be sought throughout the synthesis of the many regional images that can be understood as somewhat layers of a region. The thesis contributes to the discussion...

This essay maps and analyze the dynamic interaction between the regional and municipal levels. This is based on the case of Region Jönköpings län. The thesis is a qualitative document study that will focus on he municipalities and the region as unitary public actors and their public policy in the development area. The study material is public documents of the municipalities and the region that relates to municipl/regional development.  The essay is based on previous research dealing with New regionalism, Rescaling, Re-territorialization, the Competition state (konkurrensstaten) and New Public Governance. In addition, previous research also handles unity as a factor for regional development and local/regional conditions. Based on these, the study's theoretical approaches and frameworks have constructed and formed the basis of the interpretations for the study's issues.  The conclusions of the study are that the dynamics, attitudes and interactions between the region and its municipalities takes place in a complex system where ach actor's conditions, objectivies and ambitions determine how they view themselves, each other and the region as a whole. The conditions can include anything from the geographical situation, demographics, business composition and communications with the rest of the region. In addition, the municipalities' efforts to be competitive, attractive and distinctive can be linked to the societal developments of the past decades. It is about the impact explained by New regionalism, New Public Governance and the Competition state on the local/regional landscape within which the municipalities and the region reside, as well as creating a landscape where several actors, on several levels, share the same commitments, responsibilities and powers. Which gives us a complex game between regional unity and leadership, and a municipal effort to be singular.

With the emergence of the competitive rationality in regional politics, the content of which is characterized by new regionalism, the Swedish regions are strongly associated with the mandate to assist the government in economic growth policy. The political content is adapted to enable regions to compete in markets and drive growth processes as successfully as possible. This is what previous research has largely focused on. This means that regional perspectives rarely reflect research in relation to different growth themes, although regions are complex and ambiguous phenomena. At the same time, the stipulative governance of the regions is rarely studied in national-regional research contexts. Therefore, I have chosen to review regional attractiveness that represents the regional location in attractive growth contexts. At the same time, my ambition is to introduce attractiveness in the decision-making context, that is how attractiveness emerges from the national growth policy. The purpose of the study is to analyze the political power. As a theoretical delimitation, I use Richard Florida's theory of the creative class. The starting point is to theoretically develop a reasoning about how attractiveness within regions can be understood by the important actors whose participation is absolutely crucial for the regions' development work according to the organization of the political mandate. My analysis shows how the obvious framing of the competitive rationality in national politics formulates how the regions develop attractiveness within the regional locations. The overall goal of the analyzed regions is to be attractive in a way that attracts growth and creates the conditions for players to be able to establish themselves within the site. In the same context, regions beyond growth policy are secondary to my analysis and attractiveness seems to rather help to reinforce inequalities between regional places. In this perspective, other and conflicting regional perspectives should be highlighted and discussed.

Det finns i dag en tilltro hos regionala aktörer att en stark regional tillhörighet och image kan bidra till att sätta regionen på kartan, skapa starkare sammanhållning inom området och på så vis även stötta regionens konkurrenskraft. Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur och varför man som organisation och tjänsteman väljer att arbeta med regional identitet i ett planeringssammanhang. Studien undersöker de attityder som finns inom ett regionalt utvecklingsprojekt som innehar en utarbetad målbild med ett fokus på uppbyggandet av en ny region. För att studera detta görs en fallstudie där det empiriska materialet baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer, dokumentanalys och deltagande observationer. Resultaten visar att regional identitet används som en resurs för att uppnå andra mål i regionarbetet, främst att stärka området i konkurrensen mot andra regioner. Att gå från vision till verklighet tros kunna göras genom fortsatt samverkan, bygga ihop området med effektiva transportlösningar och extern marknadsföring. Arbetet inom projektet har inneburit en aktiv urvalsprocess där den regionala bilden tillgivits symbolisk värde och ett specifikt innehåll. Fokus har dock främst legat på den interna förankringen bland det geografiska områdets tjänstemän och politiker. / There is a belief today among regional actors that a strong attachment and image can help strengthen the region and support its competitiveness. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how and why organisations and its employees choose to work with regional identity in a planning context. The study examines the attitudes that exist within a current regional development project that has produced a vision that partly focuses on building a new regional identity for a particular area. To study this a case study was conducted using qualitative interviews, document analysis and participant observations to gather data. The results show that regional identity is foremost used as a resource for achieving other objectives, in particular to strengthen the area in the competition against other regions. This study suggests that the step from vision to reality is made through continuing regional collaboration, connecting the area through effective transport solutions and external marketing.  The focus in the project has primarily been on establishing the vision among the internal planers and politicians in the geographical area.

The core of the diploma thesis "EU Development Cooperation with ACP Countries in Terms of the Regionalism Theory" lies in the case study analysing historical evolution of mutual relations and development cooperation between ECC / EU and the ACP group of countries from the Rome treaty to the present day. Analysis is focused on the external features of development cooperation, which was developing together with international treaties defining the priciples of collaboration. The research is based on concepts of the New Regionalism theory and focuses on searching connections between developing development cooperation and applied european regionalism. The basic assumption of the hypothesis is, that the development collaboration EEC / EU with ACP countries contains inter alia the fact of regionalism. In the end of case study is the hypothesis verified, but revealed regionalism is not a stable and anchored phenomenon, but a very dynamic one internally. With the application of development cooperation comes an evolution of the shape of european regionalism. That is visible mostly in shifting of priorities of international treaties. EEC / EU puts an increasing emphasis on socio - political requirements which are becoming conditional for the continuing development cooperation, when the economic dimension is...

The diploma thesis "The position of England in the context of the regional organization of Great Britain"deals with the issue of establishing a regional level of governance in the eight regions of England in the period between 1997 and 2004. This policy was promoted by the New Labour government as an answer to demands for democratisation and responsibility of governance in the regions as well as an answer to demands for improvements in economic performance of the regions. The aim of the thesis is to respond to the question of why the public in the regions does not support plans for strengthening of the regional level of governance and for establishing elected regional assemblies in the regions and why this policy was rejected in the referendum held in 2004 in the region North East. The research was carried out using the theory of new regionalism and the concept of construction of regions. Specific criteria are set and are used as a basis for analysis of the situation in the English regions in the selected time period. The first criterion is the territorial framework of the English regions, the second criterion is the institutional framework and the last criterion is the regional identity. It clearly emerges from the analysis that the English regions are not institutionalised as distinctive units...

This thesis deals with regional development policy in Corsica region in the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. During the first period region remained temporarily in objective 1 - Promoting the development and structural adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind. This period should facilitate the preparation for the transition into the developed European regions. The aim is to answer the question whether the region succeeded in coping with the new requirements of regional policy in 2007-2013 and if any shift towards an economy based on competitiveness and employment occurred there in contrast with the previous period. Based on the theory of new regionalism and learning regions this work defines three criteria which are used to compare of regional policy region in the given time frame. These are the institutional embeddedness with regard to who is involved in the negotiation of regional policy strategy, the environment in terms of economic configuration of the region and the density of institutions focusing on cooperation between fields of education, research and the private sector. The analysis shows that there has been an economic growth in the region. On the other side the regional policy could not fully focus on competitiveness and employment, as it has to deal with structural...

<p>This thesis attempts to assess the security aspect of the Barcelona Process (Process), or so called Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) within the theoretical framework of new regionalism and the Copenhagen School (Security complex theory) which agrees with neo/realism, neo-liberal institutionalism and constructivism in some aspects. The end of the Cold War broadened the security agenda and new security concerns emerged. Actually, most of the so- called security threats are not new, but the perception of them by the states has changed with globalization which increased the interconnectedness and density of the interaction. Global challenges have made states more vulnerable so appreciated the cooperative interaction at regional level. Comprehensive and cooperative security approaches gained importance and led regional security partnership among states. The construction of Euro-Mediterranean security partnership is one case stemming from the high level of interdependence between the European and the Mediterranean countries. The historical ties, economic dependency, geographical proximity increased the EU’s interest towards the Mediterranean. While new regionalism enables to grasp systemic factors in the Process, the Copenhagen School permits to understand security partnership at the regional level. The rise of illegal immigration flows and religious fundamentalism in the Mediterranean as well as tension in the Middle East conflict, the Iraqi War, and terrorist attacks to the US, Algeria and recently Turkey appreciated the importance of the EMP policy and security cooperation so make this study more crucial. </p><p>This study showed that the security challenges in five sectors of the security defined by the Copenhagen School are observable in the EMP’s case. Both military and non-military concerns threaten the stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean Basin. The three baskets of the EMP depict its comprehensive security approach. Having made an overview of the Barcelona Process, the thesis evaluated the security challenges in general and the thematic areas of concerns in depth. Since security cannot be defined without reference to the perceptions and security cultures of the actors, the study examined the perceptions and security cultures in the EMP. </p><p>The evaluation of the EMP showed that the EMP has shown certain developments on the way for the security cooperation. However, it could not produce tangible results due to the fundamental shortcomings categorized as inter and intra-institutional incoherence, definitional/perceptional problems and multi- actor involvement in the region. The lack of institutional structures, asymmetrical relations among partners, unbalanced distribution of powers and lack of commitment of the EU are crucial problems. On the basis of all problems lie the gap between the perceptions and security culture of Europe and the Arab world. Thus, this thesis emphasizes the enhancement of inter- subjective understanding and cultural dialogue in order to improve trust and interaction among partners. The EMP is on right track to build zone of peace in the Basin, but it requires longue durée to achieve this.</p>

This thesis attempts to assess the security aspect of the Barcelona Process (Process), or so called Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) within the theoretical framework of new regionalism and the Copenhagen School (Security complex theory) which agrees with neo/realism, neo-liberal institutionalism and constructivism in some aspects. The end of the Cold War broadened the security agenda and new security concerns emerged. Actually, most of the so- called security threats are not new, but the perception of them by the states has changed with globalization which increased the interconnectedness and density of the interaction. Global challenges have made states more vulnerable so appreciated the cooperative interaction at regional level. Comprehensive and cooperative security approaches gained importance and led regional security partnership among states. The construction of Euro-Mediterranean security partnership is one case stemming from the high level of interdependence between the European and the Mediterranean countries. The historical ties, economic dependency, geographical proximity increased the EU’s interest towards the Mediterranean. While new regionalism enables to grasp systemic factors in the Process, the Copenhagen School permits to understand security partnership at the regional level. The rise of illegal immigration flows and religious fundamentalism in the Mediterranean as well as tension in the Middle East conflict, the Iraqi War, and terrorist attacks to the US, Algeria and recently Turkey appreciated the importance of the EMP policy and security cooperation so make this study more crucial. This study showed that the security challenges in five sectors of the security defined by the Copenhagen School are observable in the EMP’s case. Both military and non-military concerns threaten the stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean Basin. The three baskets of the EMP depict its comprehensive security approach. Having made an overview of the Barcelona Process, the thesis evaluated the security challenges in general and the thematic areas of concerns in depth. Since security cannot be defined without reference to the perceptions and security cultures of the actors, the study examined the perceptions and security cultures in the EMP. The evaluation of the EMP showed that the EMP has shown certain developments on the way for the security cooperation. However, it could not produce tangible results due to the fundamental shortcomings categorized as inter and intra-institutional incoherence, definitional/perceptional problems and multi- actor involvement in the region. The lack of institutional structures, asymmetrical relations among partners, unbalanced distribution of powers and lack of commitment of the EU are crucial problems. On the basis of all problems lie the gap between the perceptions and security culture of Europe and the Arab world. Thus, this thesis emphasizes the enhancement of inter- subjective understanding and cultural dialogue in order to improve trust and interaction among partners. The EMP is on right track to build zone of peace in the Basin, but it requires longue durée to achieve this.

The central question addressed by this thesis is whether and to what extent ASEAN and SADC provide a regional response to security challenges from within and without the region respectively. In the examination of a regional response to security challenges in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa, this study investigates each regional organisation’s efforts and methods of how to approach and deal with regional security problems. In examining the processes and patterns of ASEAN and SADC regionalism in terms of the security dimension, the focus is on political security in its regional context. In doing so, the mechanisms of both ASEAN and SADC politico-security regionalisms are explored. This study also aims to compare SADC and ASEAN to find similarities and differences in terms of the way in which ‘politico-security regionalism’ as a regional project is used to respond to global challenges, as well as to internal needs. Moreover, this study seeks to explore what can be learnt from the experiences of both ASEAN and SADC with regard to regionalism and regionalisation in response to political security threats. This will, as a result, be conducive to understanding the character, nature and type of contemporary regionalism and regional security in the South, including Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. Furthermore, in discussing the question of whether and how ASEAN and SADC attempt to shape and modify or change the process of globalisation and regionalisation in politico-security terms, this study emphasises a multi-dimensionality of contemporary regionalism – so called ‘new regionalism’ – which would normally be based on constructivism. Therefore, this study argues that the theoretical problem relates to the insufficiency of neo-realist and neo-liberal institutionalist accounts that call for a much needed attempt to bring ASEAN and SADC into contemporary discussions about the mechanisms of politico-security regionalisms within the context of a (social) constructivism of international relations (IR) theory. / Thesis (DPhil (International Relations))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Political Sciences / unrestricted