"The EU and Transnational Regions: A Maritime Perspective"

Smith, M. Estellie. (1995) "The EU and Transnational Regions: A Maritime Perspective". In: UNSPECIFIED, Charleston, South Carolina. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

[From the introduction]. Not uniquely but perhaps more than most other social scientists, anthropologists have always been conscious of the extent 'to which 'reality' is problematic given a priori sociocultural biases as to what one sees and hears, counts or gives accounts of the human context. In doing field work, two things strike most anthropologists: Firstly, the extent to which people can differ on the relevant content and boundaries of given sociocultura1 spaces. Individuals and groups see or fail to see different resources in variously defined spaces, prioritize these resources differently, and vary considerably as to the use rights/responsibilities of humans relative to those resources. Secondly, people locate 'themselves in various 'spaces' simultaneously or sequentially, i.e., identifying themselves in one region with one set of perimeters at one time but, within that same space, as part of another more or less extensive region at other times. This paper will address the issues that arise from such cognitive variability. It will focus on the maritime component of the EU since this neglected sector reveals the extent to which cultural constructs of spatiality, particularly as these relate to those constructs labeled 'regions,' have not only molded the evolution of the EU but have been and will continue to be the source of its most vexing problems (cf. Appendices I and III)

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