David A. Smith is Associate Professor of Sociology and Urban Planning; he is the author of Third World Cities in Global Perspective, and co-editor of A New World Order? Global Transformations in the Late Twentieth Century. Dorothy J. Solinger is Professor of Politics and Society. She is the author of five books on contemporary China including China’s Transition from Socialism and Contesting Citizenship in Urban China. Steven C. Topik is Professor and Chair of the Department of History. He is the author of four books focusing on Brazil including Trade and Gunboats and The Second Conquest of Latin America. All three are based at the University of California, Irvine.