The region as cognition: an alternative analysis of regionalism

ABSTRACT The paper defines a cognitive approach of regionalism and outlines a research agenda, proceeding from the assumption that the region is not a thing in the world, but a perspective on the world. Regionalism is a way of being in the world to which we are all subject. Therefore, instead of defining and describing a region and its identity, I suggest we should wonder how, when and why regionalist social actors interpret their social experience in regional terms. To do this, three cognitive levels are highlighted. Each region, first of all, is characterized by an ideological opportunities structure, which is a cognitive system with both constraints and leeway, defined by a more or less hegemonic ideology and more or less legitimate heterodox ideologies. The regionalist ideology then is characterized by the use of the region as a cognitive tool, notably in order to understand social problems on a regional territorial basis. Finally, the regionalist discourse in interaction during a social movement can take the form of a master frame of regional injustice.