Changing Forms of Governance in Asia, Africa and the Americas and the Effects on the World Order

Publish Date: Feb 24, 2012

Deadline: Feb 29, 2012

Comparative Regionalisms: Changing Forms of Governance in Asia, Africa and the Americas and the Effects on the World Order

The course fosters new approaches to the study of regionalisms in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Building on, but seeking to go beyond the European experience the course examines the rise of regions after World War II and the resurgence of the idea in and from the 1980s. It considers the different interpretations, values and expectations assigned to ‘region’, from regional free trade agreements to security communities to supra-national integrative projects. The course will examine how such regions vary across time and geography, assuming different characteristics, and will also consider to what extent regions are a result of and/or a response to globalization and the extent to which they constitute and shape global order. 

The aim of the course is three-fold: to introduce varieties of new regionalisms in Asia, Africa and the Americas; critically engage extant theories of regionalism and discuss the extent to which western theories and models can be applied to other types of regionalism; and examine questions of inter-regional relations and regional change. The course will pay special attention to the origins, the specific features, and the changing characters of the various regions, and their effects on world order.

Among the key questions discussed in the course are the following: when is a region a region?; how and when do regions rise to international prominence?; how do different regions interact with each other (if at all)?; how do regions and types of regionalism change? These questions are not purely academic: understanding why regions form, organize and institutionalize can shed light on the process of change such regions undergo, but also contributes to understanding processes of inter-regional relations, so far left at the margins of academic debates. Ultimately they speak to one of the key questions in the study of international relations, namely that of war and peace. The course also pays special attention to methodological issues arising from inter-regional comparisons, as well as to the extent to which western theories, largely designed to account for the process of European integration, can also explain non-western varieties of regionalism.

Period

02-07-2012 – 12-07-2012 (2 weeks)

Target group

The course encourages applications from graduate students (PhD, advanced MA), early career scholars (post-docs) and professionals in the social sciences, and especially from the fields of comparative politics, international relations, international political economy, political science, and sociology. Some familiarity with the regions discussed in the course and expertise in non-European regions would be an advantage. rnUndergraduates without a university degree will not be considered.

Course aim

The aim of the course is three-fold: first to introduce varieties of new regionalisms in Asia, Africa and the Americas; critically engage extant theories of regionalism and discuss the extent to which western theories and models can be applied to other types of regionalism; examine questions of inter-regional relations and regional change. The course also pays special attention to methodological issues pertaining to the study of comparative regionalism.

Credits

2.0 ECTS credits

The ECTS points offered by this course may be accepted for credit transfer by the participants' home universities. Those who wish to obtain these credits should inquire about the possible transfer at their home institution prior to their enrollment. The Summer University Office will send a transcript to those who have fulfilled all the necessary course requirements and request one.

Course fee

Course leader

Amitav Acharya, School of International Service American University, Washington D.C., USA, Matteo Fumagalli, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Central European University, Budapest,

Scholarships

Financial aid is available in the following categories: 
- tuition waiver, 

- travel grant (full or partial) 
- accommodation

New deadline for applications is February, 29.

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