Arguing with Regions

Agnew J. A. Arguing with regions, Regional Studies . An analytical survey of how regions have entered into the arguments of the social sciences serves to highlight the uses and limitations of different understandings of regions and their various theoretical biases. It also provides a way of introducing the articles in the rest of this special issue. It considers how regions have come to be used as a classificatory device across the social sciences, discusses the various meanings given to regions in empirical research, and examines the main philosophical and theoretical controversies that have been sparked by their use. Matching regions to purpose and avoiding a singular conception of 'region' that claims to fit all arguments are the main conclusions.