Transregional Europe by William Outhwaite (Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020, ISBN: 978‐1‐78769‐494‐1); 152 pp., €90.46, hardcover.
该书挑战以国家为中心的传统视角，采用跨区域视角探讨欧洲人如何超越国界形成对更广阔地理区域的认同感，对研究欧洲一体化和区域认同的学者有参考价值。
Interest in European identity has been steadily increasing, especially after the shift from permissive consensus in the early 1990s to constraining dissensus (Hooghe and Marks 2009). Since the early 2000s, European affairs have become more politicise, controversial and contested. Given that EU politics are now subject to public scrutiny, the future of EU integration relies on people's sense of belonging and support for the EU. In this context, an important question that remains to be addressed is: How do Europeans perceive and construct their identity? William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Newcastle University, challenges the conventional nation-centric view, opting instead for a transregional lens inspired by the broad regional concepts often applied in the United States, like East, West, South and Midwest. By doing so, he explores to what extent Europeans have started to develop a sense of attachment to broader geographical concepts that go beyond national boundaries. The author critiques methodological nationalism and argues that regions, due to their diverse sizes, inherent fuzziness and reduced emotional charge (compared to nations), provide new place-identities at the continental scale (e.g., Northern, Western, Central/Eastern and Southern/Mediterranean). He suggests that delving into regional identities adds valuable insights to our understanding of European identity. I find Outhwaite's shift in the unit of analysis very important for European studies, especially for cross-border mobility studies. It emphasises the diversity of experience within Europe, and from the theoretical overview the book provides, it would be interesting to empirically test some propositions to see if there are any patterns in EU support or identification that we may have overlooked. Transregional Europe (Outhwaite 2020) opens with an exploration of how the ‘European cake’ is sliced and how Europeans are rethinking their mental maps to create a new sense of identity for the continent, revealing how ideas about Europe sometimes clash with national views. The first chapter explores these mental maps from both popular perceptions and EU-macro-regional planning, emphasising the critical link between physical space and representation. Turning attention to the historical evolution of Europe's regional conceptualisation, Outhwaite delves into key constituent features of regions such as imagined communities (Chapter 2), time and space (Chapter 3) and nature, language and religion (Chapter 4). This retrospective analysis reveals the pre-political nature of European regionalism and underscores the notable differences in macro-regional conceptualisations. The author acknowledges space as a political construct filled with diverse ideologies. Unlike the fixed borders associated with states, macro-regions are perceived as social constructs without concrete boundaries. The book continues exploring the historical perception of Europe as a unified space through macro-regional planning (Chapter 5) and challenges the division between Europe and Asia, advocating for a broader regional perspective: Euroasia (Chapter 6). Additionally, the author discusses the role of migration and tourism in the European integration process (Chapter 7), highlighting the active role of branding to attract various entities. The author concludes by emphasising two ways in which trans-regional conceptions and integration in Europe have unfolded: explicit planning at a policy level and unintended consequences of more spontaneous processes (Chapter 8). While offering a dense and theoretically rich interdisciplinary examination of the changing transregional European landscape, this publication primarily takes the form of a comprehensive literature review. It integrates research about ‘new regionalism’ in human geography and planning with insights from history and other social sciences. The book presents and analyses various perspectives on transregionalism without engaging in empirical investigation of its own. Despite being written before major events like Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and the changing geopolitical situation, the core contributions remain relevant as subnational authorities are increasingly important in Europe. The transregional framework and analysis provided could offer valuable insights into these events, highlighting how regional identities, interactions and dynamics may influence responses to such crises and shifts. The book is a compelling read for academics and practitioners across diverse disciplines and interdisciplinary programs, particularly those interested by place-identity beyond the limitations of nation-states. The book ambitiously explores the complex relationship between Europe's historical and cultural patterns, its self-representations, regional dynamics and the pursuit of positive change through local, national and transnational initiatives. Macro-regional planning strategies aim to address common problems and foster interregional cooperation. In doing so, they also re-scale governance and policymaking. This additional layer in the multi-level politics of the EU impacts how we analyse institution-building and collective identity formation. Therefore, considering a transregional perspective, like the one provided in Transregional Europe, is crucial for understanding social processes and political developments such as future EU enlargement, shifts in the geopolitical landscape or internal divisions within the EU. The author confirm that the manuscript has been submitted solely to this journal and is not published, in press or submitted elsewhere.