The Resilience of Latin American Regionalism
A Neofunctionalist Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6445668 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Detlef Nolte (0000-0003-2014-272X), Brigitte Weiffen (0000-0003-0341-8704) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 697-718 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Politische Vierteljahresschrift. Sonderheft (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0720-4809 • E-ISSN: 1862-2860 |
| Publisher | Springer VS (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11615-024-00571-w |
| OpenAlex | W4402631877 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 31 |
Latin America has seen both recurrent crises and a surprising resilience of its regional organizations. This article explores how different approaches have attempted to explain this seemingly paradoxical record. Combining insights from European Union (EU) studies and comparative regionalism, we ask whether neofunctionalism as a theoretical approach developed for the study of the EU can travel across the Atlantic and enrich the analysis of Latin American regionalism. Neofunctionalist theorists posited that functional spillover could lead to politicization and subsequent deepening of regional integration. But while spillover has been the engine of European integration, it has never been a real option in Latin America. Past applications of neofunctionalist approaches to Latin American regionalism have therefore above all revealed its limitations. Comparative regionalism approaches fared better in that they identified characteristics that account for the repeated crises of Latin American regional organizations. However, this article suggests that the “second-best” strategies mentioned in neofunctionalist analyses, such as encapsulation, spill-around, or even spillback, can help explain the resilience of regionalism in Latin America. While those strategies posed an obstacle to deeper integration, as shown by classical neofunctionalist studies, we draw on a set of case studies to illustrate that Latin American regionalism survived through expansion (spill-around) rather than deepening (spillover), as well as through encapsulation and, in some cases, even spillback. A new reading of neofunctionalism therefore helps to explain the resilience of Latin American regionalism under adverse conditions
Economic geography · Geography · Latin Americans · Perspective (graphical · Physics · Political science · Politics · Regionalism (politics · Resilience (materials science · Computer Science · International Development and Aid · International Relations in Latin America · Law · Political Conflict and Governance
Techno-functionalism and the varieties of regional resilience in Latin America
Observer States and interregional trade between Asia and Latin America
Latin America
Crises, Adaptation, and Resilience—Exploring Crises Responses of Regional Organizations from the Perspective of EU Studies and Comparative Regionalism
Explaining Decisions in the European Union
The Political Economy of Central America since 1920
Has Regionalism Peaked? The Latin American Quagmire and its Lessons
Latin American and Caribbean Regionalism during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Presidential Diplomacy and the Institutional Underpinnings of Mercosur
Neo-Functionalism as a Theory of Disintegration
From the summits to the plains
From free market to social policies? Mapping regulatory cooperation in education and health in Mercosur
Constructing regionalism in South America
Of words and deeds
Honduras -El Salvador. La guerre de cent heures
Liquid Regionalism
How regional organizations cope with recurrent stress
The Uniting of Europe and the Uniting of Latin America
Grand theories of integration and the challenges of comparative regionalism
Central American Integration
Life, Death, or Zombie? The Vitality of International Organizations
A Revised Theory of Regional Integration
Economics and Differential Patterns of Political Integration
Paradox of Autonomy
Global International Relations (IR) and Regional Worlds
Spillover Effects and Supranational Parliaments
Regional governance and legitimacy in South America
Resilience to crisis and resistance to change
Explaining Mercosur's Survival
El Mercosur diez años después. ¿Proceso de aprendizaje o déjà vu
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |