Session H
New Systems of Regionalisation. The Latin American Laboratory
Facilitators: Silvina Cecilia CARRIZO (CONICET, Universidad nacional de la Plata, Argentina), Christian GIRAULT (CREDA), Laetitia PERRIER BRUSLÉ (Loterr–Prodig), Aldomar RÜCKERT (UFRGS, Brasil), Roberto UEBEL (UFRGS, Brasil) & Sébastien VELUT (IHEAL)
Latin America underwent various political and economic integration processes in the 1990s, including the creation of Mercosur (1991), NAFTA (1993) and the relaunch of the Andean Community through the creation of a free trade area (1993). This regionalist effervescence was rooted in the rise of neoliberalism. With the arrival of left-wing governments in the 2000s, regionalism took a more political turn: it was less a question of expanding commercial zones than of creating pockets of anti-hegemonic resistance. The failure of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a testament to this turning point. The return of the right in the 2010s, along with the change in the stance of the United States, has slowed down the implementation of these institutional arrangements, and sometimes even led to them being dismantled (UNASUR). At the same time, major infrastructure programmes that are supposed to connect the continent are criticised for their impact on regions and the environment, and for having been vectors of corruption.
How can integration be rethought in this troubled context? Are we witnessing the establishment of new, more focused and flexible processes? Are there any regional sub-systems based on new approaches (PROSUL), such as resource development, regional security, migration issues?
States are rethinking the issue of integration, while at the same time companies, civil society and local governments are creating other types of territories and new forms of cooperation. The boundaries and borders that have marked Latin American development models have been reactivated by these development dynamics and/or the protection of resources (mining, biodiversity, water, energy, tourism). Thus, Latin America remains an experimental laboratory for such regionalisation systems.
This session will address these issues by focusing in particular on activities related to the development and/or protection of certain resources, as well as international trade and migration by studying the following:
- geopolitical blocs, both old and new,
- the actors and timescales of integration/regionalisation,
- cooperation networks and integration processes,
- boundaries and borders: changing patterns.
Indicative bibliographical references
Cargnin A., Rückert A., de Oliveira Lemos B. (dir.), 2018, Territorial planning and La Plata Basin Borders, Porto Alegre, Letra 1.
Gardini G. L., 2005, “Critical Investigations on Integration in South America: Hidden Past, Uncertain Present and Controversial Future”, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 18(3), p. 403-404.
Gardini G. L., 2011, “MERCOSUR: What You See Is Not (Always) What You Get”, European Law Journal, 17(5), p. 683‑700.
Malamud A., Gardini G. L., 2012, “Has Regionalism Peaked? The Latin American Quagmire and its Lessons”, The International Spectator, 47(1), p. 116-133.
Malamud A., Schmitter P., 2007, The experience of European integration and the potential for integration in South America, Working Papers n° 6, Barcelona, IBEI.
Parthenay K., 2019, A Political Sociology of Regionalism: Perspectives for a Comparison, Palgrave MacMillan.
Perrier Bruslé L., 2013, “The Border as a Marker of Territoriality: Multi-Scalar Perspectives and Multi-Agent Processes in a South American Borderland Region”, Geopolitics, 18(3), p. 584‑611.
Perrier Bruslé L., 2014, « L’intégration sud-américaine : des enjeux continentaux aux réalités locales. Un exemple à la tri-frontière Bolivie-Pérou-Brésil », in Y. Richard & A. Gana (dir.), La régionalisation du monde. Construction territoriale et articulation global/local, Paris, IRMC–Karthala, p. 211-232.
Perrier Bruslé L., 2015, « La integración continental suramericana, inscripción espacial y marco ideológico. Apuntes desde Bolivia, el país de contactos », Journal of Latin American Geography, 14(2), p. 101-127.
Rivarola Puntigliano A., 2011, “ ‘Geopolitics of Integration’ and the Imagination of South America”, Geopolitics, n° 16, p. 846-864.
Rückert A., Carneiro Filho C., 2018, « Quelle intégration de l’Amérique du Sud ? Les infrastructures de liaison des régions périphériques et les tendances », Diploweb.com, La Revue géopolitique.
Yates J. S., Bakker K., 2014, “Debating the ‘Post-Neoliberal Turn’ in Latin America”, Progress in Human Geography, 38(1), p. 62-90.
