Critical Asian Studies
This line of research approaches relations between China and the Andean region from a critical and multidimensional perspective, exploring their economic, political, socio-cultural, environmental, and human rights implications. It analyses how these interactions shape local and global scenarios, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that arise.
It also seeks to develop capacities through participatory methodologies and practical workshops, promoting interdisciplinary approaches to address the challenges and opportunities of this transcontinental relationship. The line also analyses the impact of regional actors in these international relations to foster equity, economic resilience, and respect for human rights.
Research Projects
China-Latin American Relations Perspectives and Debates
Main objective: To examine contemporary relations between China and the Andean Region. Bringing together experts, academics, business leaders, diplomats and government representatives from Latin America and the United States. Focusing on capacity building through technical workshops, training sessions and debates to promote a deeper understanding of the complexities of China's economic, technological and political strategies in the Andean region.
Korean Migration In Japan
Main objective: Focus on Korean migration in Hiroshima-Japan. Through ethnographic methodology and interviewing Korean migrants recently arrived in Japan.
The Impact of Chinese Mining on Indigenous Communities
Main objective: The current scenario of mining in the indigenous communities of the Upper Napo region of Ecuador calls for research into the socio-economic effects, psychological and cultural impacts, as well as strategies of resistance, relations with international actors, and intergenerational effects of mining. In order to understand the dynamics of power and resistance in the affected communities.
Publications
- Amar, P.; Rofel, L.; Viteri, M. A.; Fernández Salvador, C.; & Brancoli, F. (2023). The tropical silk road : the future of China in South America. Stanford University Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=3385666
Alliances
- Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Quito - Centro Asia - Korea and East Asia Studies.
- Fundación Andrés-Bello, Colombia - Centro de Investigación Chino Latinoamericano.
- Confucius Institute, San Francisco University, Quito.
Researchers
Cheryl Martens
PhD in Sociology, University of Manchester, England. She is a founding member of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Inequalities, the Latin American Network of the Pegasus Institute, and a member of IAMCR and CSA. His areas of interest and research include: Migration and Food Security in the Global South, communication and community media, digital activism in Latin America, sexual and reproductive health, gender, wellbeing, corporate social responsibility, language revitalisation, indigenous cultures, with a focus on Amazonia and the sociology of culture.
José Salazar
Director and founding member of the Master of Chinese Philosophy between Beijing University and San Francisco de Quito University, Instituto de Cultura China USFQ, Instituto Confucio USFQ, President and speaker at the XVII International Congress of ALADAA-Ecuador; National Secretary of the ALADAA Ecuador section and Coordinator of Sinology Studies in Latin America and the Caribbean. His research topics revolve around Chinese Philosophy, Literature and language, on subjects such as: Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism; in particular on the complexity of the translation from Chinese to Spanish of the 《 Tao Te Ching 》 by Lao Tse, as well as other works from the period before the Qin Dynasty (221st century b.c.e) and the existing translations in Spanish in Ibero-America.
Elena del Consuelo Fernández-Salvador Ayala
Consuelo Fernández-Salvador holds a PhD in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (The Netherlands). She is Professor and Coordinator of the Anthropology Department at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador). Her areas of interest are ethnopolitics, extractivism and development, particularly in the dynamics generated by large-scale mining in the Southern Amazon of Ecuador. She has researched organisational cultures and community-based tourism. She is co-editor and author of the books ‘La Amazonia minada: Minada: Minería a gran escala y conflictos en el sur del Ecuador’ and ‘The Tropical Silk Road: The Future of China in South America’.
Pedro Nunes da Silva
Pedro Nunes da Silva holds a PhD in Politics from New York University. He has been a professor of political science at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito since 2016.