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I have been immersed in sustainable development and regional integration since I was a baby through the activities of the RISC Consortium. I have met people coming from different parts of the world to discuss their regions and how they affect communities. I have had the opportunity to travel and see how life is in different world regions, how people are the same, and how they are different. One day, my parents asked me to explain to them what “sustainable regional integration” means. This is my answer.

For more than 30 years after the arrival of the first multinational coal company in La Guajira, the Wayuu have raised their voices. They denounce the extermination of their people, the dispossession of their territory and their resources, and the negligence of the Colombian and Venezuelan states in facing a humanitarian crisis caused by hunger and the death of more than 4,000 children. The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic within this context.

A decade ago, Regions & Cohesion started with an editorial article by Harlan Koff and Carmen Maganda, who proposed launching “a multilingual (English, French, and Spanish) and interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of the human and environmental impacts of regional integration as well as governance processes.”

The year 2020 has been challenging due to the different overlapping crises related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is difficult to celebrate amidst the awareness of the worst global suffering in generations. Nonetheless, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to commemorate ten years of Regions & Cohesion. It is not lost on us that our commemoration occurs amidst the above-cited crises. The inaugural issue of Regions & Cohesion (2011) was entitled “Regiones, régions, regions, everywhere. … But what about the people?” It noted that regional integration had proliferated throughout the 1990s and early 2000s to the point that some scholarship was suggesting that regions could one day substitute nation-states as prominent actors in global affairs. The opening editorial of this issue noted that successful region-building, at the supranational, transnational, and sub-national level was measured in terms of economic prosperity and political stability. The inaugural issue questioned this approach by studying how well regions respond to the needs of citizens. It asked whether regions serve the needs of their people or whether people serve the needs of regional economies. The coronavirus-related crises have merely emphasized many of the shortcomings of regions and regionalisms that this journal has documented throughout its first decade of existence.

Abstract

Ukraine is usually portrayed as a cleft country with a determining internal East–West divide. However, critical researchers in Ukrainian scholarship emphasize that the East–West paradigm fails to adequately reflect the complex reality of the Ukrainian society and its historical, linguistic, economic, and political mixture. This article deconstructs the origins and evolution of the eastern and western Ukrainian identities and argues that the current clash between the two regions should not be explained by linguistic and ethnic differences, geopolitical strategies, economic interests, or political gains but rather by symbolic geographies, historical myths, and political imaginations. As a consequence, Ukraine is unable to make clear choices about its geopolitical future and remains a liminal space of east and west, where the broader EU-centered and Russia-centered regions overlap.

Abstract

This article analyzes the causes of low trade relations between Indonesia and Latin American states, arguing that dynamics of international political economy have opened opportunities to increase trade relations between those countries. Having good diplomatic and political relations with similar emerging economies, like Peru and Chile, should drive closer economic relations among them. A qualitative study was conducted using literature reviews, archival analysis, and in-depth interviews. Political will and lack of knowledge pertaining to the business character of each country hamper external relations. Thus, a functional multi-track diplomacy that incorporates state and non-state actors from various fields is crucial for enhancing economic relations among these countries. Trade relations can be particularly strengthened by maximizing cooperation among actors at various levels.

English abstract: The community of Tlahuitoltepec, in the Sierra Mixe of Oaxaca, is losing Traditional Ecological Knowledge due to socially driven changes in its natural environment. Mixe is one of the 69 indigenous languages spoken in Oaxaca, and is spoken almost exclusively in Tlahuitoltepec. Using an ethnographic approach, with loosely structured interviews among key members of the community, we analyzed the theory that biodiversity loss is linked to the loss of indigenous languages and traditional ecological knowledge. Our findings show that certain words in Mixe, used to refer to animals that are no longer observed in the community or its surroundings, are not well known by young people. The case of Ka’ux reflects what happens to traditional ecological knowledge and to an indigenous language when biodiversity is lost.

Spanish abstract: La comunidad de Tlahuitoltepec, en la Sierra Mixe de Oaxaca, pierde conocimiento ecológico tradicional debido a cambios sociales en su ambiente natural. El Mixe es una de las 69 lenguas indígenas habladas en Oaxaca, y es hablado casi exclusivamente en Tlahiutoltepec. Aplicando un enfoque etnográfico, con entrevistas semiestructuradas a miembros clave de la comunidad, analizamos la teoría sobre si la pérdida de biodiversidad se relaciona con la pérdida de lenguas indígenas y conocimiento ecológico tradicional. Nuestros resultados muestran que algunas palabras mixes usadas para nombrar animales que ya no se observan en la comunidad o sus alrededores, no son bien conocidas por la gente joven. El caso de Ka’ux refleja que ocurre con el conocimiento ecológico tradicional y a las lenguas indígenas cuando la biodiversidad desaparece.

French abstract: La communauté de Tlahuitoltepec, dans la Sierra mixe d’Oaxaca, perd ses connaissances écologiques traditionnelles en raison de changements sociaux dans son environnement naturel. Le mixe est l’une des soixante-neuf langues indigènes parlées à Oaxaca et elle est parlée presque exclusivement à Tlahuitoltepec. En utilisant une approche ethnographique, avec des entretiens semi-structurés parmi les membres clés de la communauté, nous avons analysé la théorie selon laquelle la biodiversité est liée à la perte des langues autochtones et des connaissances écologiques traditionnelles. Nos résultats montrent que certains mots en mixe utilisés pour désigner des animaux qui ne sont plus observés dans la communauté ou ses environs ne sont pas bien connus des jeunes. Le cas de Ka’ux reflète l’impact de la perte de biodiversité sur les connaissances écologiques traditionnelles et sur une langue autochtone.