Regional Integration and Cooperation in West Africa


Book Description

This volume examines the failure of regional integration and cooperation to date in West Africa and explores some of the more holistic and economically liberal options for revitalization. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.




The Rural and Peripheral in Regional Development


Book Description

The countryside has often been marginalised in discussions of economic and societal development, in favour of the urban. This book aims to stimulate a debate and a re-evaluation of how the concepts of the rural, peripheral and marginal are treated in academia and policy. Approaching this theme from geographic, demographic and economic perspectives, Peter de Souza makes a compelling case for giving the periphery a prominent role as an integral part of a holistic and balanced society. The book carefully deconstructs the concept of the urban, and critiques the idea of urban-rural or centre-periphery comparisons, and presents an alternative approach to spark future discussions. Winner of the Regional Studies Association Best Book Award 2020, The Rural and Peripheral in Regional Development will be of interest to those studying and researching in the areas of rural economics, sustainability and development, as well as those involved in rural policymaking.




Resilient States from a Comparative Regional Perspective


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the transformation which the newest members of ASEAN (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Laos) and the newest members of EU (ten new Members from Baltic, Central and Eastern Balkan regions) have experienced during the last two decades (1990-2010).




China


Book Description

China has become a superpower, exerting significant influence globally. This accessible text integrates thematic and regional coverage to provide a panoramic view of China--its physical geography; population, including ethnic diversity; urban development; agriculture and land use; transportation networks; dynamic economic processes; and environmental challenges. Cultural and political geography topics are woven throughout the chapters. The text also offers in-depth assessments of selected regions, capturing the complexity of this vast and populous country. It is richly illustrated with more than 150 maps, tables, figures, and photographs--including 8 pages in full color--which are available as PowerPoint slides at the companion website. Pedagogical Features *Chapter-opening learning objectives. *Chapter-opening key concepts and terms. *Extensive notes pointing students to relevant online resources. *Engaging topic boxes in every chapter.




The Emergence of the Knowledge Economy


Book Description

Knowledge has in recent years become a key driver for growth of regions and nations. This volume empirically investigates the emergence of the knowledge economy in the late 20th century from a regional point of view. It first deals with the theoretical background for understanding the knowledge economy, with knowledge spillovers and development externalities. It then examines aspects of the relationship between knowledge inputs and innovative outputs in the information, computer and telecommunications sector (ICT) of the economy at the regional level. Case studies focusing on a wide variety of sectors, countries and regions finally illustrate important regional innovation issues.




Regions and Industries


Book Description

In this book a team of distinguished historians contend that industrialization in Britain (and elsewhere) occurred first and foremost within regions rather than in the nation as a whole.




Regionalism without Regions


Book Description

This collective volume shows how Ukraine can best be understood through its regions and how the regions must be considered against the background of the nation. The overarching objective of the book is to challenge the dominance of the nation-state paradigm in the analyses of Ukraine by illustrating the interrelationship between national and regional dynamics of change. The authors—historians, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, literary critics and linguists from Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland, Germany and the USA—explicitly go beyond the perspective of an entity defined by traditional political borders and cultural, economic, historical or religious stereotypes. The research project that led to the composition of the book combined quantitative (statistical surveys conducted across Ukraine) and qualitative (in-depth interviews and focus-group discussion) methods. The authors came to the conclusion that regionalism as a defining phenomenon of Ukraine is more prominent than the regions themselves. This approach regards Ukraine as a construct in flux where different discourses intersect, concur and eventually merge through the lenses of various disciplines and methodologies.




North American Borders in Comparative Perspective


Book Description

The northern and southern borders and borderlands of the United States should have much in common; instead they offer mirror articulations of the complex relationships and engagements between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. In North American Borders in Comparative Perspectiveleading experts provide a contemporary analysis of how globalization and security imperatives have redefined the shared border regions of these three nations. This volume offers a comparative perspective on North American borders and reveals the distinctive nature first of the overportrayed Mexico-U.S. border and then of the largely overlooked Canada-U.S. border. The perspectives on either border are rarely compared. Essays in this volume bring North American borders into comparative focus; the contributors advance the understanding of borders in a variety of theoretical and empirical contexts pertaining to North America with an intense sharing of knowledge, ideas, and perspectives. Adding to the regional analysis of North American borders and borderlands, this book cuts across disciplinary and topical areas to provide a balanced, comparative view of borders. Scholars, policy makers, and practitioners convey perspectives on current research and understanding of the United States’ borders with its immediate neighbors. Developing current border theories, the authors address timely and practical border issues that are significant to our understanding and management of North American borderlands. The future of borders demands a deep understanding of borderlands and borders. This volume is a major step in that direction. Contributors Bruce Agnew Donald K. Alper Alan D. Bersin Christopher Brown Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly Irasema Coronado Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera Michelle Keck Victor Konrad Francisco Lara-Valencia Tony Payan Kathleen Staudt Rick Van Schoik Christopher Wilson




Global Governance from Regional Perspectives


Book Description

Global Governance from Regional Perspectives argues that the academic debate on global governance has neglected the combination of power with value constellations/culture. Both input and output legitimacy, for instance, or the exercise of control and influence are inextricably related to culture, worldviews, and values. The book questions theoretically the Western hegemonic and hence 'invisible' definition of governance and related concepts, as well as the Western hegemony over global governance institutions. It looks from the ground up whether, and how, alternative practices, institutions/networks, and concepts/norms of global governance are emerging in relation to emerging powers and regional integration systems. Global Governance from Regional Perspectives starts with a critical reading of global governance from multi-disciplinary views and engages with two important and under-studied aspects, notably how global governance can be measured and what lies behind such measurements, and questions the democratic deficit of global governance. The book provides a series of regional and country perspectives on global governance which engage with a specific example of an institution, process, or issue that is used to highlight why and how the western hegemonic views and practices of global governance are (or not) contested. The book offers a mapping of global governance phenomena in different regions of the world and a critical readings of those. As such this volume is different from all international relations or political science collections on global governance and also opens up a new field of study that has been hitherto neglected in sociological or cultural studies.




Why Regions Matter: Small Worlds in Comparative Perspective


Book Description

This book explores how regions matter. Written by leading experts in the field, this is a cutting-edge collection of theoretical, analytical and empirical essays on comparative regionalism and federalism. This book was published as a special issue of Regional and Federal Studies.