The relevance of regions in a globalized world: bridging the social sciences-humanities gap

Regions in a globalized world : bridging the social sciences-humanities gap / Galia Press-Barnathan, Ruth Fine, and Arie M. Kacowicz -- Preferential trade agreements in the developing world / Edward D. Mansfield -- Linking economic performance and regional institutionalism : more local, less global? / Yoram Z. Haftel and Daniel F. Wajner -- Overlapping regionalism and region-building in Africa / Christof Hartman -- Focusing on regions as the way to understand war and peace / Benjamin Miller -- A new cultural geography of East Asia : imagining a "region" through popular culture / Nissim Otmazgin -- Nationalism, religion, and sub-state national identity in Southeast Asia : regional and global relevance / Jacques Bertrand -- The Middle East : a volatile region in transition / Avraham Sela -- The Cantonese Pacific in the making of nations / Henry Yu -- "Linguistic peace"? : reflections on the interstate security consequences of Iberian American linguistic kinships versus European linguistic fragmentation / Carlos Escudé -- Regions of history : the International Congress for the Defense of Culture, Paris 1935 / Susanne Zepp -- The role of translatio/n in the constitution of community (regional) identities : the interdependence of Europe and Latin America / Michael Roessner -- How the Ethiopians changed their skin : the Orient, Africa, and their diasporas / Steven Kaplan -- Conclusions : imagining, perceiving, constructing, explaining, and understanding regions / Galia Press-Barnathan, Ruth Fine, and Arie M. Kacowicz.

This volume provides a unique open inter-disciplinary dialogue across the Humanities and Social Sciences to further our understanding of the phenomenon of regions and regionalism in a globalized world both at the theoretical and empirical levels. What comprises a region? What are the different regional dynamic processes that take place? What is the relationship between the regional and the global? What role does identity building play? Bringing together scholars from various disciplines within and across the Social Sciences and the Humanities to reflect on these questions, the book explores how regions are imagined, constructed, understood, and explained in different academic disciplines. Each chapter addresses these common questions and uses its own disciplinary lenses to answer them. In addition, the volume offers interesting reflections on the academic borders constructed in the study of regions, thus demonstrating the importance of obtaining insights from both social scientists and humanities scholars in order to better understand the relevance of regions in a complex and globalized world. An important work for scholars and postgraduate students in many fields, including political science, international relations, sociology, economics, geography, history and literature, as well as for those interested in regionalism and area studies.

Regions in a globalized world : bridging the social sciences-humanities gap / Galia Press-Barnathan, Ruth Fine, and Arie M. Kacowicz -- Preferential trade agreements in the developing world / Edward D. Mansfield -- Linking economic performance and regional institutionalism : more local, less global? / Yoram Z. Haftel and Daniel F. Wajner -- Overlapping regionalism and region-building in Africa / Christof Hartman -- Focusing on regions as the way to understand war and peace / Benjamin Miller -- A new cultural geography of East Asia : imagining a "region" through popular culture / Nissim Otmazgin -- Nationalism, religion, and sub-state national identity in Southeast Asia : regional and global relevance / Jacques Bertrand -- The Middle East : a volatile region in transition / Avraham Sela -- The Cantonese Pacific in the making of nations / Henry Yu -- "Linguistic peace"? : reflections on the interstate security consequences of Iberian American linguistic kinships versus European linguistic fragmentation / Carlos Escudé -- Regions of history : the International Congress for the Defense of Culture, Paris 1935 / Susanne Zepp -- The role of translatio/n in the constitution of community (regional) identities : the interdependence of Europe and Latin America / Michael Roessner -- How the Ethiopians changed their skin : the Orient, Africa, and their diasporas / Steven Kaplan -- Conclusions : imagining, perceiving, constructing, explaining, and understanding regions / Galia Press-Barnathan, Ruth Fine, and Arie M. Kacowicz