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Deconstructing Regions: Notes on the Scales of Spatial Life

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  • A Paasi

    (Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Linnanmaa, 90570 Oulu, Finland)

Abstract

The author examines the fundamental categories of geographical thought: region, locality, and place, the keywords in geographical discourse during the 1980s. The relation of these categories to the sociocultural context and the everyday practices of individuals is discussed, and a reinterpretation of the concept of region as a sociocultural and historical category is put forward. The region is comprehended as a historically contingent process whose institutionalisation consists of four stages: the development of territorial, symbolic, and institutional shape and its establishment as an entity in the regional system and social consciousness of the society. During the institutionalisation process a region becomes an established entity—with a specific regional identity—which is acknowledged in different spheres of social action and consciousness and which is continually reproduced in individual and institutional practices. The constitution of the local or regional consciousness of individuals is interpreted through the concept of place, which refers to personal experience and meanings contained in personal life-histories. These concepts together promote an understanding of how regions can be created and reproduced as part of the regional transformation of society and how individuals are contextualised into this process by reproducing region-specific structures of expectations. Generation is suggested as a mediating category for comprehending the relations between region and place.

Suggested Citation

  • A Paasi, 1991. "Deconstructing Regions: Notes on the Scales of Spatial Life," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 23(2), pages 239-256, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:23:y:1991:i:2:p:239-256
    DOI: 10.1068/a230239
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    Cited by:

    1. Kurka, Bernhard & Maier, Gunther & Sedlacek, Sabine, 2007. "Breaking the vicious cycle in peripheral rural regions: the case of "Waldviertler Wohlviertel" in Austria," SRE-Discussion Papers 2007/03, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    2. Bouke van Gorp & Kees Terlouw, 2017. "Making News: Newspapers and the Institutionalisation of New Regions," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 108(6), pages 718-736, December.
    3. John Tomaney & Neil Ward, 2000. "England and the 'New Regionalism'," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 471-478.
    4. Danny MacKinnon & Andrew Cumbers & Andy Pike & Kean Birch & Robert McMaster, 2009. "Evolution in Economic Geography: Institutions, Political Economy, and Adaptation," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(2), pages 129-150, April.
    5. Anssi Paasi, 1999. "Boundaries as Social Practice and Discourse: The Finnish-Russian Border," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(7), pages 669-680.
    6. Feyza Eldeniz, 2011. "An Assessment Of Institutional Restructuring In Regional Policy," ERSA conference papers ersa11p70, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Sedlacek Sabine & Kurka Bernhard & Maier Gunther, 2009. "Regional identity: a key to overcome structural weaknesses in peripheral rural regions?," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 1(4), pages 180-201, January.
    8. Tauri Tuvikene, 2016. "Strategies for Comparative Urbanism: Post-socialism as a De-territorialized Concept," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 132-146, January.
    9. Andrea Lucarelli, 2018. "Co-branding public place brands: towards an alternative approach to place branding," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(4), pages 260-271, November.
    10. Pallagst, Karina M. & Dörrenbächer, H. Peter & Weith, Thomas, 2018. "Grenzüberschreitende Kooperation theoretisch: Erklärungsansätze aus europäischer Integration, Regionalismus und Governance," Arbeitsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Pallagst, Karina M. & Hartz, Andrea & Caesar, Beate (ed.), Border Futures - Zukunft Grenze - Avenir Frontière: Zukunftsfähigkeit grenzüberschreitender Zusammenarbeit, volume 20, pages 28-40, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    11. Toni Ahlqvist, 2014. "Building Innovation Excellence of World Class: The Cluster as an Instrument of Spatial Governance in the European Union," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 1712-1731, September.
    12. Luciane Aguiar Borges, 2017. "Using the Past to Construct Territorial Identities in Regional Planning: The Case of Mälardalen, Sweden," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 659-675, July.
    13. Kaj Zimmerbauer & Sulevi Riukulehto & Timo Suutari, 2017. "Killing the Regional Leviathan? Deinstitutionalization and Stickiness of Regions," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 676-693, July.
    14. Garri Raagmaa, 2001. "Regional identity and social capital in regional economic development and planning," ERSA conference papers ersa01p194, European Regional Science Association.

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