Reconceptualizing Regions in a Multipolar World

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

As social scientists, we frequently employ “region” in our analyses or theories about the world, but what does this concept really mean? Who defines a region and at what junctures are they redefined? What are the relevant ordering principles within a region, and how are the boundaries and centers determined? How do ideas about forms of government, transitional justice, or global leadership differ across regions and how are those ideas disseminated between and within regions? As an interdisciplinary research group of political scientists, historians, and economists, we set out to answer these and other questions while reconceptualizing this elusive term “region” through a multi-year data collection and generation effort.

In this roundtable, we will introduce a new Index of Regionalization based on political, economic, and cultural connectivity between countries showing changes over the past several decades. We will also discuss results from a global survey fielded in three countries in Latin America and five in Southeast Asia in late 2021 and early 2022. This multinational survey illustrates people’s perceptions of and experiences within their regions and with other regions of the world. Participants will discuss the ways in which regions have been central to their own research, and how participating in this cross-regional data generation project has informed their approach.

Sub Unit

• Division 11: Comparative Politics

Chair

• Cassandra V. Emmons International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Presenters

• Timothy J. Colton Harvard University

• Meg E. Rithmire Harvard Business School

• Cassandra V. Emmons International Foundation for Electoral Systems

• Zoe Marks Harvard Kennedy School

• Tarek Masoud Harvard University

• Kathryn Sikkink Harvard University