Regional consciousness and regional identity as variables in the process of institutionalization of the region
2014
Abstract
Finnish constructivist geographer Anssi Paasi distinguishes within his concept of regional identity its two basic dimensions - regional identity of the inhabitants, in other words regional consciousness, and identity of the region. If we perceive regions as social constructions, the identities of the regions are simultaneously products and sources of the regional identities of the inhabitants and vice versa.
Link between regional consciousness and identity of the region translates into the so-called institutionalization of the region, which is basically the process of formation, transformation and extinction of the region as an element of social organization of space.