FOREWORD

RYAN ALEXANDER

This issue of the Journal of Global South Studies continues our tradition of providing multidisciplinary analysis of the vast section of the world known as the Global South. By coincidence, it contains two articles, one by Assefa Fiseha, the other by Alemseged Abbay, on ways in which Ethiopians have struggled to hold their nation together over three decades of constitutional federalism while confronting numerous ethnic and political fractures. The comparative piece by Brian Norris examines the causes and outcomes of different levels of political decentralization in Latin America and Africa, using Colombia, Bolivia, and Mozambique as case studies. Finally, Michael Arthur Uzendoski, Gustavo Durán Saavedra, and Manuel Bayón Jiménez explore how indigenous residents of Ecuador’s Amazonian region have asserted their political will in the face of encroaching urban sprawl. As always, I want to thank the editorial staff at both the Journal of Global South Studies and the University of Florida Press, along with the peer reviewers who volunteer their time for the betterment of the individual articles and the journal as a whole.

Our parent organization, the Association of Global South Studies, was established in order to provide an international structure for the humane and scientific study of peoples, problems, and issues in the world’s developing countries, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life in those places. The late Dr. Harold Isaacs, professor emeritus of history at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, founded the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS), Inc., in 1983. The association now has a global membership and chapters in South Asia and Africa. In the summer of 2016, following a vote of the members of the association, ATWS was renamed the Association of Global South Studies (AGSS).

As ATWS, the association began its history as an institution in 1991 when, under the newly ratified ATWS constitution, elected officials assumed responsibility for the management of the organization. Since 1992, the executive headquarters have been located at Georgia Southern University (1992–2003), Mississippi State University (2003–2006), and Louisiana State University Shreveport (2006–). Due to the dedicated and energetic leadership of Zia H. Hashmi and Paul Rodell at Georgia Southern, Shu-hui Wu at Mississippi State, and William Pederson at LSU Shreveport, AGSS has made great progress as a global, professional organization. In 1995, the United Nations recognized the success of AGSS by granting it UN “consultative status,” thus enabling the association to increase its direct impact on world development. AGSS has an established and newly revamped website, to be found at http://apps.gsw.edu/atws/.

Membership in AGSS is open to any person interested in studying the developing countries. Yearly membership dues are $60.00, which includes an annual subscription to JGSS. The yearly subscription rate is $60.00; single copies are $30.00. Discounts are available for students and those living in the developing countries. Journal subscription, as well as copies of JTWS/JGSS, may be obtained by writing to the editor, Ryan Alexander, at ralex006@plattsburgh.edu. Individuals interested in submitting articles to be considered for publication by the JGSS Board of Editors should send a message to the same.

Articles appearing in this journal can be found through the databases JSTOR and Project MUSE, and they are abstracted and indexed in the International Bibliography of Periodical Literature, the International Bibliography of Book Reviews, the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, the International Political Science Abstracts, Political Science Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life, Periodica Islamica, A Matter of Fact, Media Review, Consumers Index, Social Sciences Index, University Microfilms, PAIS Indexes, and CAB International (CABI).

RYAN ALEXANDER, EDITOR