FORWORD

GLOBAL DYNAMICS AND REGIONAL RESPONSES: the Asian presence in Latin America, 19th-21st centuries

Esteban Sánchez Solano (guest editor), Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios de Asia y de África.

 The interaction between Asia and Latin America dates back to the 16th century, due to the European expansionist dynamics. However, after the collapse of the European colonial system in America at the end of the 18th century, first in North America, and later in most of the continent and the Caribbean, the dynamics of exchange underwent considerable changes. The new scenario presented novel sources of interaction that accelerated with the global expansion of capitalism. The Asian in America became a known dimension of the new social realities in the American continent, but totally absent in the Latin American national histories constructed throughout the 21th century.

 Thus, at the time when some Asian countries began a different journey in the 2oth century, the presence of Asian cultures also had, in diplomatic and economic contacts between Latin Americans and Asians, another space for exchange and consequently, new facets.

 This special issue aims to analyze the influence of Asia in Latin American societies in the cultural, economic, political and intellectual spheres.