Algorithmic Nations: Seeing Like a City-Regional and Techno-Political Conceptual Assemblage

Calzada, I. (2018), Algorithmic Nations: Seeing Like a City-Regional and Techno-Political Conceptual Assemblage. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 5:1, 267-289. DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2018.1507754.

24 Pages Posted: 15 Aug 2018 Last revised: 22 Aug 2018

See all articles by Igor Calzada

Igor Calzada

Cardiff University, WISERD (Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data); Basque Government - Basque Foundation for Science (IKERBASQUE); Ikerbasque Foundation UPV/EHU; University of the Basque Country

Date Written: July 31, 2018

Abstract

There are changing dynamics among political regionalisation processes and the rescaling of nation-states in Europe. However, updated and timely research remains scant, ambiguous, and unable to meet the challenges of data-driven societies and uneven borders. Nations’ physical boundaries matter as much as political borders in their pervasive and growing algorithmic, stateless, liquid, and metropolitan citizenship patterns. This paper explores these new ‘connectographies’ from a regional science perspective, introducing the term ‘Algorithmic Nations’ as a city-regional and techno-political conceptual assemblage. A case-study is presented of the small stateless city-regionalised European nation of the Basque Country through its analytical and transitional lens, locally known as ‘Euskal Hiria’ (Basque City-Region in Basque language). This paper questions whether the Basque Country could evolve by (a) modifying its governmental logics and (b) merging its three separate devolved administrations (c) while enabling their direct interactions with citizens (d) through blockchain technologies as the small state of Estonia is implementing and employing cutting-edge algorithmic governance frameworks. In doing so, this paper suggests how four drivers—metropolitanisation, devolution, the right to decide, and blockchain—may be respectively invigorating four dynamics—geoeconomics, geopolitics, geodemocratics, and geotechnologics—in this transition towards the ‘Algorithmic Nations’. Ultimately, this paper concludes with an ‘Algorithmic Nations’ research and policy agenda decalogue of how these geotechnological changes might determine the future position of small stateless city-regionalised nations in the EU.

Keywords: Algorithmic Nations, Basque Country, blockchain, city-regions, devolution, rescaling nation-states, stateless citizenship, techno-politics

JEL Classification: O33, O31, O35, O38, 030, R1, R10, H7, H70, H77, H79, D7, D70, D71, D72

Suggested Citation

Calzada, Igor and Calzada, Igor, Algorithmic Nations: Seeing Like a City-Regional and Techno-Political Conceptual Assemblage (July 31, 2018). Calzada, I. (2018), Algorithmic Nations: Seeing Like a City-Regional and Techno-Political Conceptual Assemblage. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 5:1, 267-289. DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2018.1507754., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3223672

Igor Calzada (Contact Author)

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