REGIONAL PROCESSES IN THE HEGEMONIC NATION - POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, ANDMILITARY INFLUENCES ON THE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC SPACE

Recent research has revealed that war-making has played an important r ole in molding society and has precipitated a new look at state-buildi ng, the relationship between the state and society, and the ties betwe en war-making and capitalism. In this study, I illuminate weaknesses i n the received view of regional processes, and I demonstrate the value of bringing the state into analyses of regional transformation. Case studies of the steel industry, airframe manufacturers, and military in stallations contrast pre- and postwar trends to determine if the state 's World War II investments transformed regional processes or if warti me investments merely reinforced processes that were already underway. For the steel industry, the civilian-oriented and economistic reasoni ng of the received view of regional processes is most persuasive. In c ontrast, the state's wartime logistic and strategic priorities molded the dramatic expansion of U.S. military bases during the war-growth ma chine politics played an important secondary role. The airframe indust ry offers the most interesting case-the economic influences on this in dustry intersected with both military and political factors. Thus, thi s study provides evidence that regional processes are molded by the ov erlapping, and at times competing, needs for use of space by economic, political, and military actors. The immediate lesson is that it is im portant to bring the study of war-making into the sociological mainstr eam.