This research summarizes, compares and analyzes the origins and developments of integration in Europe, Asia and Africa since World War Two. There have been some interesting findings. Europe has been the most successful region, having realized free movements of people, goods, services and money in several countries within the European Union (EU). Africa has been more advanced in institutional integration than Asia, although its level of economic development, constrained by instability, corruption, and poor socio-economic conditions, has hindered integration; meanwhile, its regional economic communities (RECs) have been more successful than the continental organization. Despite the improved economic conditions, Asia has been experiencing difficulties in community building due to lack of consensus and a partnership among major powers. There has not been any continental organization in Asia; nor has the subregional grouping, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), progressed far in economic and political integration. / x, 327 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

Pa., Univ., Diss.--Pittsburgh.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study seeks to analyse regionalism in theory as well as in practice with regard to the Southern African region. Its purpose is thereby twofold: Firstly, this work claims to make a contribution to critical and reflectivist theorising of regionalism. The study of regionalism remains highly dominated by rationalist theories focusing predominantly on states as regionalising actors as well as on formal inter-state frameworks and market-led processes of regional integration. The hegemonic status of these approaches reinforces a specific form of regionalism which is compatible with neoliberal practices in the world economy. In order to reveal shortcomings and normative tenets of conventional theories and to account for the complexity and multidimensionality of regional projects and processes, a combination of theoretical insights from Robert W. Cox’s Critical Theory (CCT) as well as from the New Regionalism(s) Approach (NRA) are proposed as the theoretical framework for the study. The second objective is to bring civil society as a regionalising actor into the debate. Focusing on the highly exclusive and elite-driven regional project pursued by the region’s most comprehensive inter-state framework, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the study addresses the question, as to what extent civil society at the regional level can act as a transformative force in terms of people-centred socio-economic development and social equity. After introducing crucial meta-theoretical, conceptual and methodological considerations, the major theoretical contributions to the study of regionalism are reviewed critically and a critical/reflectivist approach is proposed as an alternative to mainstream rationalist theorising. In a broad historical overview, the social, political, economic and cultural contexts which characterize the contemporary region of Southern Africa are discussed. Subsequently, four regional civil society organisations, namely the SADC Council of Non-governmental Organisations (CNGO), the Southern African Trade Union’s Co-ordination Council (SATUCC), the Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA) and the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), are scrutinized with the intention to assess their transformative potential within SADC. The research conducted for the study is based on an eclectic employment of a combination of mostly qualitative methods, among them field research interviews, participatory observations as well as the analysis of primary and secondary sources/data. Two important conclusions can be drawn from this work: Firstly, an explicitly anti-reductionist and critical theoretical approach is seen as essential to account for the myriad of multi-level structural as well as agency-related factors influencing regionalism and regionalisation in Southern Africa. Secondly, the impact of regional civil society actors investigated in this study with regard to a more socio-economically inclusive form of regionalism remains limited, because of institutional and structural constraints, limited representativeness and a lack of strategic coordination among civil society organisations. Nevertheless, recent developments within civil society at the regional level also provide some reasons for optimism that a broader societal movement might be evolving which, as a transformative alliance, could challenge SADC’s contemporary approach to regionalism. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie probeer om regionalisme teoreties en empiries te analiseer met as fokus die Suider-Afrikaanse streek. Derhalwe is die navorsingsdoelstelling tweevoudig, eerstens, is die navorsing daarop gemik om ’n bydrae te lewer tot die kritiese en reflektiewe teoretisering van regionalisme. Die bestudering van regionalisme word steeds oorweldigend oorheers deur rasionalistiese teorieë, en fokus primêr op state as die belangrikste streeks-akteurs, asook op formele inter-staat raamwerke en mark-verwante prosesse van streeksintegrasie. Die hegemoniese status van hierdie benaderinge bekragtig ’n spesifieke vorm van regionalisme wat saamhang met neoliberale praktyk in die wêreld-ekonomie. Ten einde die tekortkominge en normatiewe aannames van konvensionele teorieë uit te wys, asook om rekening te gee van die kompleksiteit en multi-dimensionaliteit van streeks-projekte en prosesse, word ’n kombinasie van teoretiese insigte gebruik uit Robert W. Cox se Kritiese Teorie (CCT), asook insigte uit die Nuwe Regionalisme-benadering (NRA) en aan die hand gedoen as teoretiese vertrekpunt vir die studie. Die tweede navorsingsdoelwit is om die burgerlike samelewing as streeks-akteur binne die analise te inkorporeer. Met as empiriese fokus, die hoogs eksklusiewe en elite-gedrewe streeks-projek wat bedryf word deur die mees omvattende inter-staat streeksinstelling, die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap (SAOG), evalueer en assesseer die studie die vraag tot watter mate die burgerlike samelewing op streeksvlak kan optree as ’n krag vir verandering binne die raamwerk van mensgesentreerde sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling en sosiale gelykberegtiging. Na die bekendstelling van ’n aantal meta-teoretiese, konseptuele en metodologiese oorweginge wat van kardinale belang is, word die hoofstroom teoretiese bydraes tot die bestudering van regionalisme krities beskou, en word ’n krities/reflektiewe benadering voorgestel as ’n alternatiewe benadering. Vervolgens word ’n breë historiese oorsig van die sosiale, politieke, ekonomiese en kulturele kontekste wat kenmerkende is van die teenswoordige Suider-Afrikaanse streek gelewer. Hierna word vier burgerlike samelewings-organisasies, naamlik, die SAOG Raad vir Nie-regeringsorganisasies (CNGO), die Suider-Afrikaanse Vakbonde Koördineringsraad (SATUCC), die Ekonomiese Regverdigheidsnetwerk (EJN) van die Gemeenskap van Christelike Rade in Suider-Afrika (FOCCISA) en die Suider-Afrikaanse Mense Solidariteitsnetwerk (SAPSN), onder die loep geneem ten einde hul veranderingspotensiaal binne SAOG te assesseer. Die navorsing wat hiervoor onderneem is, is gegrond binne ’n eklektiese vermenging van hoofsaaklik kwalitatiewe metodes, insluitende veldnavorsing-onderhoude, deelnemende waarneming, asook die analise van primêre en sekondêre bronne en data. Twee belangrike gevolgtrekking word, ten slotte, gemaak. Eerstens, ’n eksplisiete en anti-reduksionistiese, krities-teoretiese benadering word as essensieël beskou om rekenskap te kan gee vir die meervoudige en meervlakkige strukturele asook agent-verwante faktore wat regionalisme en regionalisasie in Suider-Afrika beïnvloed. Tweedens, die impak van die burgerlike samewelings-akteurs waarop hierdie studie gefokus het, om ’n meer sosio-ekonomiese inklusiewe vorm van regionalisme tot stand te bring, is beperk. Die redes hiervoor is van ’n institutionele en strukturele aard, beperkte verteenwoordiging en ’n gebrek aan strategiese koördinering tussen burgelike samelewings-organisasies in die streek. Nietemin, is daar redes vir optimisme wat voortspruit uit onlangse ontwikkelinge binne die streek se burgerlike samelewings organisasies. Hieruit is dit moontlik dat ’n breë sosiale beweging sou kon ontwikkel wat, in die vorm van ’n veranderings-gerigte alliansie, die SAOG se huidige benadering tot regionalisme kan uitdaag.

This dissertation examines South Korea as an emergent middle power in East Asia, and how this is being reflected on its diplomatic behavior in relation to the processes of regionalism. The literature of middle powers suggests that countries such as South Korea can play useful roles to promote cooperation in several specific areas. In East Asia, the need for regional institutionalization became evident since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997-98, yet the attempts of China and Japan for regional leadership are often viewed as problematic. Hence, this research confirmed its main hypothesis which points to South Korea as a capable middle power to lead East Asian regionalism. Thus, in those particular instances where Korea has chosen to display middlepowermanship – as a catalyst, facilitator and/or manager of regionalist projects – the advancement in the processes of regional institutionalization in East Asia was generally observed. In doing so, this research looked into South Korea’s foreign policy behavior towards East Asian regional processes and towards Northeast Asia as a subregion. Regional institution-building attempts, as well as the creation of regional governance were the main aspects observed; hence this research falls within the theoretical boundaries of international political economy and international relations. Neoliberal theories related to neo-functionalism, institutionalism and especially inter-governmentalism were considered to understand regionalism, while preferring a constructivist point of view to explain the relations among states. A qualitative type of methodology was favored, including interviews with policy-makers and experts, as well as archival research of primary and secondary sources. Ultimately, this study has both practical and theoretical contributions, since the literature on middle powers does not often consider applications to regionalism, a process which is usually advanced and led by great powers. Thus, study conclusions suggest several improved practical understandings of East Asian regionalism in general, recommendations for its continuing advancement and possible future strategies for South Korea’s role in it as the regional middle power. / This dissertation examines South Korea as an emergent middle power in East Asia, and how this is being reflected on its diplomatic behavior in relation to the processes of regionalism. The literature of middle powers suggests that countries such as South Korea can play useful roles to promote cooperation in several specific areas. In East Asia, the need for regional institutionalization became evident since the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997-98, yet the attempts of China and Japan for regional leadership are often viewed as problematic. Hence, this research confirmed its main hypothesis which points to South Korea as a capable middle power to lead East Asian regionalism. Thus, in those particular instances where Korea has chosen to display middlepowermanship – as a catalyst, facilitator and/or manager of regionalist projects – the advancement in the processes of regional institutionalization in East Asia was generally observed. In doing so, this research looked into South Korea’s foreign policy behavior towards East Asian regional processes and towards Northeast Asia as a subregion. Regional institution-building attempts, as well as the creation of regional governance were the main aspects observed; hence this research falls within the theoretical boundaries of international political economy and international relations. Neoliberal theories related to neo-functionalism, institutionalism and especially inter-governmentalism were considered to understand regionalism, while preferring a constructivist point of view to explain the relations among states. A qualitative type of methodology was favored, including interviews with policy-makers and experts, as well as archival research of primary and secondary sources. Ultimately, this study has both practical and theoretical contributions, since the literature on middle powers does not often consider applications to regionalism, a process which is usually advanced and led by great powers. Thus, study conclusions suggest several improved practical understandings of East Asian regionalism in general, recommendations for its continuing advancement and possible future strategies for South Korea’s role in it as the regional middle power.

Based on a Ph.D. thesis-Oxford University. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

No description available.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study analyses regionalism in Africa from a theoretical and an applied perspective. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the critical and reflectivist corpus of theories of regionalism. This field is dominated by rationalist theories that are largely preoccupied with formal inter-­‐state and market-­‐driven processes of regional integration. The rationalist theoretical hegemony in academia and politics serves to reinforce and reproduce neoliberal ideology informing global political economic practices. This study illustrates the limitations and normative assumptions of these orthodox frames and demonstrates the multidimensionality of regionalisation. The study applies a combination of three critical reflectivist theories: the World Order Approach, the New Regionalism Approach and the New Regionalisms Approach/Weave-­‐ world in an analysis of an ongoing regional oil and infrastructure project in East Africa called the Lamu Port, South Sudan and Ethiopia (LAPSSET) Corridor. The study’s primary research question investigates the extent to which oil production is driving the manifestation of (new) regionalism in East Africa, especially in terms of the LAPSSET Corridor, with secondary questions identifying the actors involved in this regionalisation, and what the theoretical framework reveals about the regionalisation in East Africa. After a review of some of the most influential theoretical contributions to the study of regions a critical reflectivist approach is suggested as an alternative to conventional rationalist theories. A broad historical overview of the East African region is elaborated with a focus on Uganda and Kenya, highlighting the social, cultural, political and economic evolution of the region before reflection on how forces of production relate to regime type in East Africa. Subsequently, a case study establishes an assessment of the historical and social construction of the LAPSSET Corridor. The objectives of the LAPSSET Corridor and its implementation mechanisms are scrutinised and viewed in comparison with its potential for inclusiveness of local participation and sustainable socio-­‐economic development. Two important conclusions can be drawn from this study. The first is that oil production is critical in the current regionalisation in East Africa. However, the nature of this regionalisation flows contrary to other regional motives. The second conclusion is that the anti-­‐reductionist and critical reflectivist approach is indeed essential to fully understand the variety of multi-­‐level factors of structures and agency that influence regionalism and regionalisation in East Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie analiseer regionalisme in Afrika vanaf ‘n teoretiese en ‘n toegepaste perspektief. Die doel van die studie is om by te dra tot die kritiese en reflektiwistiese liggaam van teorie oor regionalisme. Hierdie studieveld word gedomineer deur rasionalistiese teorieë wat meerendeels besig is met formele inter-­‐staat en markgedrewe prosesse van regionale integrasie. Die rasionele teoretiese hegemonie in akademia en politiek versterk en herproduseer sodanig neoliberale ideologie wat global politiek-­‐ekonomiese praktyk bepaal. Hierdie studie wys die beperkinge en normatiewe aannames van hierdie ortodokse beskouings uit, en ontbloot die multidimensionaliteit van regionalisering. Die studie pas ‘n mengsel van krities-­‐reflektivistiese teorieë toe: die Wêreldorde Benadering, die Nuwe Regionalisme Benadering, en die “Verweefde Wêreld” Benadering in ‘n analise van die regionale olie en infrastruktuurprojek in Oos-­‐ Afrika wat die “Lamu Port, South Sudan and Ehtiopia” (LAPSSET) Korridor genoem word. Die studie se primêre navorsingsvraag fokus op die mate waartoe olieproduksie die manifestering van (nuwe) regionalisme in Oos-­‐Afrika dryf, veral in terme van die LAPSSET Korridor, met sekondêre vrae om die akteurs te identifiseer wat betrokke is by hierdie regionalisering, en wat die teoretiese benadering blootlê aangaande die regionalisering in Oos-­‐Afrika. Na ‘n oorsig van die belangrikste teoretiese bydraes tot die studie van streke word ‘n krities-­‐reflekiwistiese benadering voorgestel as ‘n alternatief vir konvensionele rasionele teorieë. ‘n Breë historiese oorsig van die Oos-­‐Afrika streek word verskaf, met ‘n fokus op Uganda en Kenia, en dit beklemtoon die sosiale, kulturele, politieke en ekonomiese ontwikkeling van die streek voordat ‘n oordenking van hoe die magte van produksie betrekking het op regimetipe in Oos-­‐Afrika. Voorts verskaf die gevallestudie ‘n oorsig van die historiese en sosiale daarstel van die LAPSSET Korridor. Die doelwitte van die LAPSSET Korridor en sy implementeringsmeganismes word geëvalueer en beskou in vergelyking met sy potensiaal vir die insluiting van plaaslike deelname en volhoubare sosio-­‐ekonomiese ontwikkeling. Die studie maak twee belangrike gevolgtrekkings moontlik. Die eerste is dat olieproduksie krities belangrik is in die huidige regionalisering in Oos-­‐Afrika. Maar tog is die aard van die regionaliseringspatrone teenstrydig met ander streeksmotiverings. Die tweede gevolgtreking is dat die teen-­‐reduksionistiese en krities-­‐reflektiwistiese benaderings wel sentraal staan tot ‘n volle beskouing van die verskeidenheid van veelvlakkige faktore wat regionalisme en regionalisering in Oos-­‐Afrika beïnvloed.

Canada is widely regarded as a liberal, multicultural nation that prides itself on a history of peace and tolerance. Oftentimes set up in contrast to the United States, Canada’s history of colonialism has been popularly imagined as a gentler, necessary, inevitable, and even benevolent version of expansion and subjugation of Indigenous populations. In recent decades scholars in the social sciences and humanities have challenged the rhetoric of Canada as a consistently benevolent and peaceful nation. They have pointed to the discontinuity between Canada’s rosy image, drawn from foundational nation-building myths of benevolence, and the deeply rooted colonial narratives of necessity and inevitability that underpin those nation-building myths. This discontinuity manifests itself in far reaching patterns of social and economic disparity between Indigenous and settler populations over time across the nation. This reality is acutely seen in the Canadian West, as Canada’s historic frontier. This thesis re-problematises narratives of Canadian nation-building from a regional perspective. It is argued that positioning the West as the frontier peripheral to Canadian ‘civilisation’ is part of a broader settler colonial logic that sees the contemporary manifestation of disparity between Indigenous and settler populations as emanating from uniquely backward, peripheral places in Canada, rather than challenging the fundamental benevolence of the Canadian nation. Through a close reading of two trials pertaining to an instance of multiple perpetrator sexual assault that occurred in Saskatchewan in 2003, I demonstrate how the complex web of interlocking systems of domination that oppress and privilege in trials do not emanate from the backwardness of the place in which they occurred, but are rather indicative of broader societal processes and power relations indicative of settler colonialism. This thesis argues there is a conflation between western Canadian identity, and settler identity, owing to the foundational nation-building myths in which the West became Canadian. In moving forward, this thesis proposes an acknowledgment of the settler colonial nature of westward expansion and suggests practicing openness to considering different ways westward expansion might have been understood and experienced. Key to this process is learning to listen, learning to hear, learning to believe, and learning to see oneself implicated in the stories of those who experienced westward expansion differently from how it is popularly constructed in settler society. I begin here by proposing the complainant’s voice in the trial be heard, and be believed. Her voice and her silence provides insight into understanding the oppressive power of settler-colonialism.

As the Russian government enacted the Great Reforms of the 1850s and 1860s, Siberian students in St. Petersburg at the time came to the realization that urban, judicial, and land reforms had to take place in Siberia in order for the region to develop. Starting with meetings of the Siberian Circle in the capital, regionalists strove to elevate Siberia’s socio-political position within the Russian Empire. Regionalists believed that the Russian government envisioned Siberia exclusively as a place of exile and hard labor, as a territory for natural resources, and as a region unworthy of any real development. The chief theorists of regionalism, Grigorii Nikolaevich Potanin and Nikolai Mikhailovich Iadrintsev, sought to reconceptualize the relationship between European Russia and Siberia while publicizing regional needs. For regionalists, ending the system of Siberian exile, fostering the development of education, and pushing Siberia’s political and economic development would make Siberia a vital and vibrant region of the empire and end Siberia’s traditionally subservient status. Forces constantly pushed regionalism, as regionalists found their movement shaped, in turn, by the Russian state, Siberian realities, revolutionary forces, and civil war. Regionalists struggled to come to terms with their desire to see Siberia included in the Russian Empire in meaningful ways even as the government treated the region as an economic, political, and cultural afterthought. While regionalists endeavored to construct viable alternatives for regional development, evolving reality did as much, if not more, to shape regionalism, pushing its adherents in new and surprising directions, sometimes against their will.

In this dissertation I develop a theory that seeks to account for the variation in order present across regions. I propose that the observed variation in regional order in the international system is rooted in the domestic politics of region members. Unlike other attempts at explaining regional order, I account for domestic politics in the political capacity of member states. Measured as the relative ability of states to extract resources from their domestic societies, political capacity provides a measure of institutional and cultural constraints upon the ability of states to engage in costly foreign policies, such as conflict. The more extensive these constraints, the more likely a state will engage in cooperative behavior, resulting in more extensive regional institutions or trade interdependence. I show that regions comprised of high capacity democracies, like Europe, are highly cooperative, while those comprised of high capacity autocracies, like the Middle East, are more conflictual. The more cooperative the region, the greater the degree of interdependence and institutional architecture that will emerge. Finally, because the presence of regional order is contingent upon the domestic characteristics of constituent states, I develop a novel means of identifying regions for the proper measurement and identification of regional variables of interest. Using an opportunity and willingness framework, I define regions as stable geographic spaces of interacting states behaving uniquely from the broader international system. The resulting empirical analysis is a new dataset that provides not only a necessary means of case selection for the regional level variables included in this dissertation, but a specification of regions broadly applicable to regionalist research.