Regional Integration and Welfare: Framing and Advocating Pro-Poor Norms through Southern Regionalisms

Abstract

Regional organisations are moving away from traditional market-based goals to embrace issues of welfare, yet the role they play in social policy formation, and their contribution to the embedding of alternative approaches to development, is poorly understood. This article explores whether and how the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) advance pro-poor norms and policies in national and global governance. This work is part of ‘Poverty reduction and regional integration: a comparative analysis of SADC and UNASUR health policies’ project supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the UK Department for International Development