Trans-regionalism and China-Latin America Group Cooperation: With a Consideration of China’s Soft Power…………………Zhang Fan

An Analysis on the Influence of Marxism upon Latin American Development Theories………………………………………….……Gao Bo

In Defense of Latin-Americanized Marxism: A Review of the History of Marxism in Latin America………………………………….Ye Jianhui

The Influence of Latin American Left Power on the Democracy since the Late Twentieth Century…………………………………….Fang Xufei

 The Social Base of Political Changes in Latin America: The Relationship between Left-wing and Catholicism in Brazil, Chile and Argentina………………Zhong Zhifeng

On Failure of Judicial Review in Constitutional Disputes of Latin American Countries…………………………………..Sitegeqi, Yang Liyan

 Cultural Diplomacy from Cross-cultural Communication Perspective: A Case Study of Japanese Cultural Diplomacy in Latin America………..Zhao Hui

The Efficiency of Media Report on China-Latin America Cultural Communication from a Micro-view Perspective…………………………….Wan Dai

 Book Review

Introduction on Aspirational Power: Brazil on the Long Road to Global Influence……………….Zhang Sengen

 Academic activity

Overview about the Second Seminar on “China and LAC: Dialogue between Civilizations”……………………….

 Abstracts……………………………………………………………………….156

Abstracts

 Transregionalism and China-Latin America Group Cooperation: With a Consideration of Chinese Soft Power

Zhang Fan

Abstract: This paper clarifies three pairs of connections in China-Latin America Group Cooperation: fields and paths of cooperation, comprehensive and group cooperation, substantive contents and procedural arrangements of cooperation, as an effort to enhance the inquiry of related studies. By borrowing categories and approaches from inter- and trans-regionalism, it helps sharpen the concepts, theories and policies of the Group Cooperation between China and Latin America, while at the same time keeping an eye on the different focuses into which institutionalism and cultural analysis bring the subject. It also argues that the construction of soft power is equally, if not more, important for China in its relationship with Latin America in the near future, and can serve as a new device for the sustainability of the Group Cooperation framework. Upon the basis of, and beyond, the current economic benefits and other material considerations, cultural exchanges and the soft power derived thereof will be the main stream of the newly developed wave of civilizational dialogues, and will be the key for China in achieving its ideal of a shared future.

Key words: China-Latin America comprehensive cooperation, China-Latin America group cooperation, trans-regionalism, soft power, cultural exchange, civilizational dialogues

 

An Analysis on the Influence of Marxism upon Latin American Development Theories

Gao Bo

Abstract: The local development theory of Latin America, such as Structuralism and Dependency theory, has learned very much from the Marxism. However, there are hitherto very few studies on the relationship between these two schools and Marxism. This paper makes a preliminary exploration on this issue from the perspectives of conception, framework, methodology and basic viewpoints. The conclusion is that Structuralism and Dependency theory achieved a series of new points of view through applying Marxist surplus value conception, central-peripheral country framework, classes analysis and political economic analysis. The peripheral countries cannot copy the model and achievement of central countries, they will stay underdeveloped because central countries take a large part of the total surplus away from them, which results in the shortage of capital accumulation in the peripheral countries. The structuralists emphasized the double impacts of central countries upon peripheral ones, referring to the promotive as well as the obstructive impacts, while dependency theorists paid more attention to the negative impact. The structuralists distinguished the central capitalist crisis from the peripheral ones and put forward two new forms of crisis for periphery, one is hyper-inflation caused by the alternately rising salary of labor and price of products, the other is military coups launched by the upper class. With the aid of some important elements of Marxist theory, Structuralism and Dependency theorists made empirical study on history and reality of Latin America. A series of new points of view achieved by them deepened the studies on development issue of the third world, promoted further development of Marxist theory and developmental economics.

Key words: structuralism, dependency theory, Marxism, development theory, Latin America

 

In Defense of Latin-Americanized Marxism: A Review of the History of Marxism in Latin America

Ye Jianhui

Abstract: When history was proclaimed to be ended by apologists of capitalism after 1989, the exiled Cuban philosopher Raúl Fornet-Betancourt, on account of the Cuban communist revolution of 1959, made a defense for Latin American Marxism. His approach of defense was to present the history of Marxism in Latin America from 1861 to 1991 as a history of inculturation of Marxism in Latin America. Initially, through Greek immigrant Plotino Rhodakanaty, Marxism got mixed with Christianity which had been deeply rooted in Latin American history since 1492. After that, Marxism got into dialogue with Latin American positivism, which used to be very popular in Latin America during the second half of 19th century, through two Argentinean positivist philosophers Juan Bautista Justo and José Ingenieros. The highest mestizaje of Marxism and Latin American cultural tradition is embodied in the Indoamerican socialism proposed by Peruvian communist philosopher Jose Carlos Mariátegui. According to Fornet-Betancourt, Mariategui’s creative Marxism is a kind of matrix which could direct the road of the inculturation of Marxism in Latin America. This matrix was named as Mariateguian Program. After that, the cause of inculturation of Marxism in Latin America failed because of the rigid following of foreign thinking mode. However, along with the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the legacy of Mariateguian Program revived until 1991. In this view, Marxism has always been adjusted and amended by native Latin American cultural traditions in its historic development, hence it is the cause of Latin Americans themselves, not of foreigners that may end with external shocks.

Key words: Fornet-Betancourt, Mariategui, Latin-Americanized Marxism, inculturation, Liberation Theology, Dependency Theory

 

The Influence of Latin American Left Power on the Democracy since the Late Twentieth Century

Fang Xufei

Abstract:  The political actors with different ideologies and political standpoints have different choices for democratic models. Since the third wave of democratization, the Latin American left has devoted itself to the democratic politics. The “left turn” which had started at the late twentieth Century had an impact on the development of democracy in Latin America. The leftist regimes carried out effective governance, which has promoted the economic and social progress to some extent. Generally speaking, they obeyed the competition principle of electoral democracy. The radical lefts emphasized the empowerment and participation of the people, regarding participatory democracy as the fundamental goal of the political reform. They pushed forward radical reform of the political system since coming into power, tried to construct a new democratic model based on participation, and actively promoted the construction of participation democracy, which enhanced the political inclusiveness in a certain period and to a certain extent. However, the radical left regime strengthened the president’s personal power, weakened the accountability of representative institutions, intensified political polarization and thus weakened political pluralism, especially the radical left regime in Venezuela. In contrast, the moderate lefts did not break through some basic principles of representative democracy, rather, they made it develop steadily. Looking ahead, the development of democracy in Latin America will face many persistent serious challenges.

Key words: Latin American left, democracy, participatory democracy, the radical left, the moderate left

 

The Social Base of Political Changes in Latin America: The Relationship between Left-wing and Catholicism in Brazil, Chile and Argentina

Zhong Zhifeng

Abstract: At the end of 20th century, the left-wing movement and the Catholic movement emerged in Latin America, which greatly shaped its political development. The political alignment between the left-wing and Catholicism not only stimulated the democratization of Latin America but also the rise of the left-wing parties or party coalitions. Concentrating on the relations of left-wing and Catholicism, this paper has done a historical and comparative study on the cases of Brazil, Chile and Argentina. There are three main findings from this research. First, the relations between left-wing and Catholicism are dynamic. The left turn and right turn of Catholicism greatly shaped the political pendulum of Latin America. Its right turn helped establish the military regime while its left turn contributed to the rising of the left-wing. Second, the relations between left-wing and Catholicism are multiple. There are three main patterns: total confrontation, total collaboration, and partial cooperation. During the process of democratization, three patterns can be identified: a cohesive church collaborated with the left wing to actively fight against the military regime in Brazil; a divided church formed election coalition with the left-wing to end the military rule in Chile; a divided church distanced from the left-wing and negatively fight against the military regime in Argentina. Third, the relations between left-wing and Catholicism are mainly shaped by the degree of regime repression and the pluralization of religious market in specific country. The more repressive the regime, the more plural the religious market, the more likely Catholicism may cooperate with the left-wing. Therefore, compared to the rigid and dichotomized essentialist approach, contextual approach is more suitable to understand the complexity and dynamics of Latin America politics.

Key words: Latin America politics, Left-wing, Catholicism, democratization, military regime, confrontation, cooperation

 

On Failure of Judicial Review in Constitutional Disputes of Latin American Countries

Sitegeqi, Yang Liyan

Abstract：Judicial review is now widely accepted in Latin American countries. Many people expect that judicial review can protect the constitutional order and political stability. However, in many cases of constitutional crises, the reality deviates from their original purpose. Therefore, it is meaningful to study the conditions on which the judicial review works. Based on an illustration of the judicial review in Latin America, the paper builds up a framework which integrates all the factors that influence the independence and the function of judicial review, from the perspective of political parties, and uses this framework to analyze the behavior of some institutions of judicial review in some cases of constitutional crises in the 21^stcentury. The paper argues that the factors such as the differences between the political views of left-wing parties and right-wing parties as well as the support from the public, have significant influences on constitutional order and political stability. In some Latin American countries where constitutional crises arose, political parties on the left and right tend to have fierce conflicts. Their desired policies differentiate significantly from each other and there is a lack of mutual trust between them. Additionally, in these countries, the institutions of judicial review can only get limited support from the people. In this situation, judicial review cannot function independently and sometimes even become the root cause of instability. Meanwhile, in some Latin American countries, due to the factors like relatively small difference between the ideologies of different parties or the support from the public, judicial review can play a more positive role in the crises and help to avoid interruption or failure of constitutional order.

Key words: Latin America, judicial review, constitution, political stability, politics of political parties

 

Cultural Diplomacy from Cross-cultural Communication Perspective: A Case Study of Japanese Cultural Diplomacy in Latin America

Zhao Hui

Abstract: Entering into the 21^st century, the China-Latin America cooperation has witnessed all-dimensional, wide-ranging, multi-level development, with the economic interdependence deepening increasingly. However, the poll of Latinobarómetro showed that the favorable opinions of China among Latin American people did not match the degree of China-Latin America economic relations. In contrast, the poll showed that the favorable opinions of Japan among Latin American people remained high, although the amount of Japanese-Latin American trade and investment was lower than that of China-Latin America. The main reason lies in the magic code of Japanese cultural diplomacy in Latin America, which relies on local Japanese descendants to implement the strategy of cross-cultural talents reserve and found comprehensive cross-cultural communication agencies. Within the cross-cultural communication chain of encoding-reencoding-decoding, the Japanese cultural diplomacy has created highly-efficient medium to minimize information loss or distortion, and provided local Latin American audience with cultural products easier to resonate. Thus it exerted an imperceptible influence on Latin American people’s affection toward Japan and Japanese foreign policy. China, on the basis of its current public diplomacy on overseas Chinese affairs, may learn from Japanese experience and introduce its own cultural diplomacy strategy focusing on the Chinese descendants in Latin America. Effective methods may include building up museums of Chinese immigration history to enhance the collective identity of Chinese descendants, creating a Chinese cross-cultural talents reservoir to cultivate cross-cultural promoters among Chinese descendants, establishing a market-oriented cultural communication platform to provide one-stop cultural services.

Key words: cultural diplomacy, cross-culture communication, China-Latin American relations, Japanese-Latin American relations, talents reservoir, collective identity of Chinese descendants

 

The Efficiency of Media Report on China-Latin America Cultural Communication from a Micro-view Perspective

Wan Dai

Abstract: Media report and communication, as a tool of cultural communication between China and Latin America, plays an essential role in understanding each other’s culture. Successful communication attributes to not only the quantity and exposure of media report, but also, the way of reporting and content understanding. In addition, the feedbacks from audiences also significantly affect communication efficiency. Based on a series of media report issued during Chairman Xi Jinping’s visit in Chile in 2016 by El Mercurio, one of the major print media in Chile, this study analyzed the reporting components, linguistic feature, and online-audience feedbacks, taking into consideration the media development and report tendency of El Mercurio. Meanwhile, the investigation and survey information from field work qualitatively aims to reconstruct China-related knowledge system of intelligentsia in Chile, revealing how media audiences in Chile understand and interpret China-related reporting. The results showed that the historical and political environment, China-related common sense holding by the audience, language characteristics as well as the political tendency of media platform all affected communication efficiency of media products. The effects, consistently on media audiences, will result in variances between communication effect and expectation. To track and correct such variances, media reposting should comprehensively consider these impacts.

Key words: El Mercurio, media products, communication effect, audience feedback, political tendency, language characteristic