FOREWORD.

• Author: Alexander, Ryan

The five articles in this issue demonstrate once again that the Journal of Global South Studies offers one of the world's most inclusive forums for scholarly analysis of the Global South. Our publication runs the gamut in terms of the world regions and academic disciplines it covers, and it offers ample space for interdisciplinary cross-disciplinary comparative, and transnational work. I want to extend my sincere thanks to the anonymous peer reviewers who have worked to improve each article, and to the volunteer associate editors (Fodei Batty for Africa, Srobana Battacharya for Asia, Sonia Farid for the Middle East, Tyler Ralston for the Americas, Jason Strakes for Eurasia, and Michael Hall for book reviews). Thanks as always to Sara Abernathy JGSS editorial assistant; Lauren Phillips, manager of journals at the University of Florida Press; and Jonathan Lawrence, the press's copy editor.

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-present). Due to the dedicated and energetic leadership of Zia H. Hashmi and Paul Rodell at Georgia Southern, Shu-hui Wu...