Beyond scaling downSubnational politics and an alternative approach to territor

Research note

Abstract

Scaling down comparative politics moved forward empirical knowledge and corrected the whole-nation bias. However, this strategy did not innovate in our understanding of territory, like other social sciences did. Based on a literature review, this paper proposes broadening the spatial approach of comparative politics by incorporating contributions from Latin American social studies inspired by pragmatist sociology and critical geography. Methodological dialogue could help comparative politics to move beyond its understanding of the territory as an “abstract space” (a fixed and neutral holder of top-down strategies), and understand it as the historical and situated outcome of multiple strategies of control and appropriation of the space.