Within Latin American and Africana Studies, Afro-Latin America is an area of growing interest as departments are hiring more faculty to teach specialty courses. There is a move to institutionalize Afro-Latin American Studies as a field of its own so this Handbook will likely plug a large gap in the field. The contributors as recognized experts across different fields within Latin American and Africana Studies. Gender diversity is strong as is the inclusion of scholars from the region. Comprehensive - it addresses four fields of analysis: disciplinary studies, problem focused fields, regional/country case studies, and pioneers or classics of such studies. Features an introduction and a conclusion written by the editors, a foreword, written by a prominent Afro-Latin American Studies and short section introductions, also written by the editors. All of this is overseen by an eminent international editorial board.