Analyzing the Integrating Process in Mercosur ─A comparison between Integration Theory and Regionalism Approach
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Chiu, Wei-ying
Abstract
Abstract Regionalism and regional integration have been trends after WWII. The European integration started after that time, improving in decades, and reached the achievements nowadays. The institution built by leaders of EU members has been a model of regional integration of other place of world. From the 1950’s to the 1960’s, regional integration outside Europe had started by fallowing the steps of European integration and imitating the European experience. In the 1970’s, facing the challenge of globalization and the end of cold war, a wave called regionalism appeared in many countries as the reaction. This phenomenon was observed by researchers and was conceptualized to the regionalism approach. Regionalism approach emphasizes categorizing and comparative study to regional integration in different places. It also emphasizes to study regionalism under the context of globalization. According to above, the study made a theoretical comparison between two research approaches: regionalism approach and integration theory. The observation of the comparison includes the similarity and the difference between the two. The similarity between the two is that both of the research approaches aims to discuss the interaction of a groups of countries neighboring each others. However, the difference between the two is how they research the regional interactions. What study of regionalism concern is to describe the fact and raise a conception from a grand aspect, then compare and generalize regionalism as a phenomenon. However, integration theory emphasize on the process of regional integration, and concern the influence of factors in the integration. However, the development of integration theory is correspondent to the fact of European integration because the material of the integration theory is from the experience of European integration. Therefore, the explanation of integration theory is limited when discussing the regionalism outside of Europe. The study tries to take regionalism in Latin-America, the development of Mercosur, as an example to examine the theory. Furthermore, the study take another research framework, study of regionalism to discuss the same fact and compare the explanatory power of two research framework. In conclusion, the explanatory power of regionalism approach is stronger than integration theory. However, after reviewing the school of integration theories, intergovernmentalism describes delicately and precisely the process of integration and development of Mercosur. It can supply regionalism approach. Beside, the NRA approach is an independent theory in school of study of regionalism. It offer a complete explanation to the integration of Mercosur, but it can’t have a dialogue with the school of integration theory. The most traditional integration theory, Neo functionalism, have no explanatory power in case of integration of Mercosur.
Subjects
Regionalism
Regional integration
Integration theory
Latin-America
Mercosur
Type
thesis
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