The Dictionary of Human Geography

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Suggested reading

UNHCR (2006).

regime of accumulation A historically dis-

tinctive and relatively durable form of

accumulationundercapitalism, based on

complementary patterns of production and

consumption, together with a supporting mode

of regulation (an ensemble of organizational

forms, networks, and institutions, rules, norms

and patterns of conduct). Derived from French

regulation theory, the concept of regimes of

accumulation is most commonly associated

with the analysis offordism, the post-Second

World War form of growth in North America

and Western Europe, based on mass produc-

tion/consumption and ‘Keynesian-welfarist’

modes of regulation (see Boyer, 1990; Jessop

and Sum, 2006). Debates continue about the

shape of the successor (post-1970s) regime,

generically labelledpost-fordism. jpe

Suggested reading

Tickell and Peck (1992).

regime theory An approach to politics that

illustrates how different organizations interact

in a dynamicpowerrelationship under the

umbrella of a larger project.

The term has become influential in urban

political economy in the emphasis upon

the management of interests shared between

theprivate and public spheresthat coalesce

into the government of an urban unit (Stone,

1989). The particular nature of the regime

is a function of the continually changing

combination of institutions, their individually

changing goals, and the manner in which they

influence each other to attain self-interest

within a broader project. Urban regime theory

highlights the dynamic power relationships

between institutions within a regime and

between competing regimes.Growth is the

usual policy common denominator that brings

the regime together.

Geographers have offered constructive cri-

tiques of urban regime theory. Ward (1996)

highlighted the difficulty of applying the theory

in contexts other than the USA, where it was

developed, and called for consideration of

the mechanisms which provoke institutions

to form regimes rather than concentrating on

how they are maintained. Ward (1996) and

Hackworth (2000) critique the localism of ini-

tial regime theory, and call for consideration of

the role of thestate apparatusat larger scales,

such as the federalstate(seefederalism)or

even the European Union (seeregionalism).

Urban regime theory was a response to the

economism of previous state theory, but

as a result lacks consideration of how regimes

become agents of capital accumulation

(Hackworth, 2000). Consideration of environ-

mental policy has drawn attention to why it

is easier to build regimes around particular

polices and not others (Gibbs and Jonas,

2000). neo-liberal policies have placed

greater emphasis upon governanceat the

urban scale. Simultaneously, supra-state insti-

tutions such as the European Union have

required consideration of how regimes forge

links across scales.

Regime theory also applies to co-operation

between states and non-governmental institu-

tions tackling problems beyond the purview

of one state. Environmental, trade and arms-

control issues are examples around which a

regime of legal connections and accepted

norms and behaviours are constructed. Con-

centration upon the idea of aglobal com-

monsandcommon pool resourcesand how

they should be managed in an international

system of sovereign states (seesovereignty)

underlies this approach. Such a regime

involves a power dynamic in which the nature

of the norms and goals, and the means of

maintaining them, are continually negotiated

between institutions with differential power

capabilities. For example, Evans (2003) illus-

trates how the ASEAN Regional Forum has

adapted to the increase in China’s economic

and political capacities. cf

Suggested reading

Lauria (1997); Rittberger and Mayer (1993).

region Most commonly used to designate:

(a) an area or zone of indeterminate size on the

surface of the Earth, whose diverse elements

form a functional association; (b) one such

region as part of a system of regions covering

theglobe; or (c) a portion of one feature of the

Earth, as in a particularclimateregion or eco-

nomic region. The concept of the region,

whichever meaning it has been given, has fallen

inandoutoffavour,sometimessimultaneously.

The region has been subject to much exam-

ination as to its epistemological and ontological

status (seeepistemology;ontology). How

are regions to be known and represented? Do

regions exist in actuality? It is probably safe to

say that most geographers who have dealt with

these questions agree that regions are based on

socially constructed generalizations about the

world, that their delimitation and representa-

tion are artefactual but not purely fictions.

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REGIME OF ACCUMULATION