The geography of subnational paradiplomacy

The objective of this research is to contribute to the geographical study of South American issues within the debates on globalization, transnational regional integration, and the new alternative actors to the nation-state that challenge the centralizing powers of the state. The study was conducted through a cross-section that sought to investigate the process of regional integration in the Mercosur bloc, focusing on this system of transnational regionalization, mainly through the study of paradiplomacy, understood as the extroversion of subnational actors, such as municipalities and states, autonomously in relation to central governments, within this bloc, presenting a historical analysis of this process from its emergence in South America to the present day and its importance for the regional bloc. A study was also conducted addressing the genesis and consolidation of the Mercocidades Network, a network of cities in the Mercosur bloc member countries, observing the motivations and adhesions from the early days to the most recent period, as well as the production of maps for a better interpretation of the evolution of this process throughout its history.