Cosmopolitan Regionalism

What is Cosmopolitan Regionalism? How does it facilitate Strategic Sustainability? Two distinct approaches to Cosmopolitan Regionalism should be considered:

Sustainable development percolating from below, explicated in the Unearthing Sustainability Project with the Ramapo College Environmental Institute.
Political and policy aspects based on a reconsideration of the nineteenth century doctrine of sectionalism.

Recall two popular slogans: "Think globally, act locally" and, in the words of the late House Speaker from Massachussetts, Tip O'Neill, "All politics is local." Word play is involved here, but the thrust of our argument here is that localism can build sustainability only if two enhancements are added:

Localism extends geographically to include regionalism and, better still. bioregionalism.
More significantly, the outlook transcends parochialism, expanding to cosmopolitanism.

If these two conditions are met, Cosmoplitan Regionalism can become a reality. A field examination of this hypethesis is under way at the Ramapo College Environmental Institute.

Cosmopolitanism

Cosmopolitanism implies worldwide scope and sophisticated bearing, no small intellectual achievement, especially in a period of unsurpassed social change. More difficult still stands the question of how to pragmatically operationalize cosmoplitanism after the outlook is acquired. Let me answer with an anecdote and its conclusions.

In late May, 2002, I discussed the fate of laissez faire globalization with my colleague, Trent Schroyer. I noted how President Bush had violated the cardinal principles of laissez faire with two major recent policy initiatives: a hefty, 70% increase in farm subsidies and the imposition of tariffs on imported steel. From the perspective of cosmopolitan regionalism, these deviations from the principles of laissez faire were simple to explain: Both policies stemmed from the same geopolitical root cause: the need to acquire seats in Congress and, ultimately, electoral votes in the 2004 presidential elections. What is at work here? Regions, particularly the Mississippi Valley and part of the Great Lakes, had become inputs to a larger sectional political arrangement and had resulted in policies promoting the core economy of that section of the USA, but with global protectionist implications. So:

The regions of USA often, but not always, include whole states, which translates into U.S. Senate seats, Congressional Districts, and electoral votes on the national level and into state legislative districts and governors on the state level --- all formidable bases of political power. This is the sectional potential of regions. Note that states and Congressional Districts form basic units of analysis --- a segue from below into national and even international politics and policy.
Sectionalism provides potential leverage for the promotion of sustainability through a cosmopolitan interpretation of fundamental economic and ecological interests. So, instead of promoting a basic economic staple, such as timber, steel or wheat, those who think along cosmopolitan regionalist lines promote the diversification of the economy and the protection of the ecosystem. The strategic insight here is that those closest to the bioregion can best appreciate the effects of systemic treatment of what is to them nature but to the maw of the global economy has been rendered a commodity.

Bioregional Strategy

In my own advocacy planning practice, I have conceptualized what might appear as local NIMBY (Not in my backyard!) movements in larger geopolitical terms. For example, a surge in petrochemical installations within the New York-New Jersey harbor in the 1970s reflected speculation that significant deposits of oil and gas could be extracted from the Baltimore Canyon, off the Mid-Atlantic coast. To some, this was a campaign to stop oil refineries and storage tank farms (sic), but the game had larger stakes and more powerful players, essential analytical aspects.

In a different way, orqanic gardening and food purchasing from regional farmers alters the terrain of food production within a global system. This illustrates the classic import substitution strategem defined by Jane Jacobs, a premier promoter of place. Another example has been incorporated by Lester Brown in Eco-Economy. Kansas farmers can accommodate wind terbines on marginal agriculture lands, thus farm electricity along with cash crops. Indeed, a comprehensive accounting of all costs, not just monetized expenses, opens up new forms of farming and new possibilities for real farm income --- all of which promote familiy farms over corporate agri-business.

Import substitution intertwines with another principle of local economic development: build on what you have, or, rather, maintain what you have, don't let others take it away. Water stands as a salient example. Right now, there is little need to substitute imports for water, but a cosmopolitan regionalist sees what is coming: waterworks, often foreign investments, buying water resources in anticipation of exorbitant pricing in the near future. The solution from a cosmopolitan regionalist perspective: protect your water resources, today. Ditto, soil. Even clean air, a pleasant amenity, underlies the demand for housing --- poor air quality and lower demand for housing, and a major sunk household investment shrinks. Ditto, scenery.

The strategic point of import substitution has as much to do with building local industry as it does anticipating what will be stripped away tomorrow. NIMBY does not do that, for it is reactive. Cosmoplitan Regionalism, however, is potentially proactive.