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Regional Integration, Networks of Civil Society Organisations and Alternative Regionalism in Southern Africa: An Introduction

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Regional Economic Communities and Integration in Southern Africa

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Abstract

For the past few decades, regionalism has been conventionally analysed through a hierarchical lens, predominantly putting more emphasis on the role of state actors, politicians and technocrats, and to a lesser extent ordinary citizens and business associations (Fioramonti, Civil Society and World Regions: How Citizens are Reshaping Regional Governance in Times of Crisis, 2015). In contrast, civil society has demonstrated how capably it can increasingly influence decision-making processes in line with region formation, not only through state-established formal institutions of interaction with government elites, but also by attending to the desire of ordinary citizens, to make their voices heard in alternative arena of engagement outside of the mainstream (Scholte, Civil Society and World Regions: How Citizens are Reshaping Regional Governance in Times of Crisis, 2015). This makes it necessary to expand the focus of analysis to include non-state actors in the study of contemporary regionalism. Accordingly, this chapter introduces the book by outlining the key issues and theoretical perspectives regarding conventional and alternative regionalism as well as the contents of the book.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The 16 member states include Angola, Botswana, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland (now Eswatini), the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation/Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Leon Mwamba Tshimpaka & Christopher Changwe Nshimbi

  2. Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, South Africa

    Inocent Moyo

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Tshimpaka, L.M., Nshimbi, C.C., Moyo, I. (2021). Regional Integration, Networks of Civil Society Organisations and Alternative Regionalism in Southern Africa: An Introduction. In: Regional Economic Communities and Integration in Southern Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9388-8_1

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