Notes for a Discussion on Latin American Cross-Border Regions

One of the most significant outcomes of the neoliberal globalization – and of its consequent relativization of borderland spaces – has been the emergence of cross-border regions. These regions constitute complex spaces that operate as locus for capital appreciation based on the exploitation of differential advantages and unequal exchanges. This paper acknowledges the multi-dimensional nature of such territorialities and goes on to suggest a preliminary typology of cross-border situations in Latin America, based on the economic scales on which these regions are fundamentally constituted. We suggest four types of regions – consuetudinary, self-contained, corridors and globalized – which are described as territorial overlapping and multidimensional space–time assemblies. Lastly, the article raises the need for further research on spatiality, development and governance of these space/time assemblies.