The “region-in-assemblage”: operationalisation of assemblage theory in regional studies

Abstract

The article addresses a pressing methodological issue in regional studies related to overcoming reductionism and constructing a comprehensive profile of a region. Modern regional studies, as a transdisciplinary field of knowledge, faces challenges in providing a coherent description of regional space, often fragmented by the approaches of various scientific disciplines. This research aims to develop a methodological framework for analysing regions based on the principles of Manuel DeLanda’s assemblage theory. The authors adapt the core concepts of assemblage theory — the exteriority of relations, the heterogeneity of components, emergence, and contingent necessity — to the conceptualisation of the region. As a key analytical toolkit, the article proposes examining the region through the lens of four dimensions of an assemblage: the axes of materiality–expressivity, territorialisation–deterritorialisation, coding–decoding, and connectivity–segmentation. Additionally, temporal characteristics of a region’s existence, such as the relative duration of events and their relative stability, are taken into account. The main result is an operational protocol for constructing an assemblage profile of the region, which allows for the empirical identification of (re)assembly episodes. The protocol establishes minimum data requirements, integration procedures, and criteria for identifying and recording change. It is concluded that the application of the assemblage approach makes it possible to overcome the essentialism of traditional social science, offers a holistic understanding of the region as a socio-spatial phenomenon, and opens new avenues for transdisciplinary regional studies.