Transpacific Developments intervenes in the debates of China's growing presence in Latin America with original ethnographic research that challenges conventional thinking about who and what constitutes Chinese development in Central America, how it is perceived locally, and what it portends for the future.

Monica DeHart makes visible the history of transregional encounters and relations that have produced local development, including Central America's partnership with Taiwan, the formative role of the Chinese diaspora, and US interventions. That history illuminates how Orientalist formulations of racial and cultural difference continue to shape local perceptions of Chinese initiatives despite the presence of multiple forms of Chineseness. Interviews with politicians, bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, labor leaders, development consultants, ethnic associations and everyday citizens in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, highlight the centrality of trade, infrastructure, and corruption as key arenas for debating Chinese influence.

Transpacific Developments shows why current development collaborations with Beijing cannot be perceived as wholly new or unique, nor its outcomes predetermined. Instead, a longer history of transpacific relations and ideas of difference define local expectations for what Chinese development might mean for Central American futures and the forms of identity and sovereignty on which they will rely.

Monica DeHart is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puget Sound. She is author of Ethnic Entrepreneurs. Follow her on X @dehart.monica.

In uncovering the layers of ideas and identities inscribed by local actors on a plurality of Chinas, the book is revelatory.

Carol Wise, University of Southern California, author of Dragonomics:

In Transpacific Developments Monica DeHart gracefully engages in dialogue with other disciplines while bringing her own ethnographic training into the mix. The result is a highly readable analytical narrative.

Alan Smart, University of Calgary, coeditor of Petty Capitalists and Globalization:

Brilliant and important, Transpacific Developments uses an ethnographic approach to show the multiple forms that China takes in Central America. This book illuminates the wide range of cultural, political, and economic exchanges that have joined the regions.