The Accident of the Region: A Strategic Relational Perspective on the Construction of the Region's Significance.

Lagendijk A. (2007) The accident of the region: a strategic relational perspective on the construction of the region's significance, Regional Studies 41, 1193-1207. In both academic debate and popular perceptions the region is presented as an important entity in economic, political, social, and spatial processes. This has resulted in a strong performative role of the region not only in mainstream debates across these domains, but also in a wide range of political and policy processes and practices. Recent critiques have challenged certain key features of the dominant perception of the region, notably its portrayal of the region as something bounded and fixed. But what triggered the emphasis on the region in the first place? To what extent can the significance of the region be attributed to broader political, economic, and social shifts? To what extent does it present a more accidental outcome of processes and actions that, in combination, happened to put the region centre stage? To address/explore these questions, the paper will adopt the Strategic Relation Approach (SRA) launched by Jessop and further developed by Hay and Sum.,, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]