NEW REGIONALISM IN THE SOUTH - MERCOSUR AND SADC IN A COMPARATIVE AND INTERREGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The author identifies gaps and a particular bias in research focused on regionalism, noting that research is Eurocentric in terms of conceptual development and empirical data. Research also tends to focus on single regions, making it difficult to speak of a theory on regionalism. Instead, most theories are adapted to the EU case study or even developed out of the EU as a case study, contributing to an EU bias. The author also identifies a lack of comparative analysis as a weakness in the research; where it has been done, the EU is used as a prototype and benchmark for other regions, irrespective of their own logics for creating regional projects. This contributes to the perception that other regions are less successful compared with the EU.