Multilingual Insights into a Complex Field of Study: An Introduction to the Aims of this Book

Writing research is currently undergoing a process of open internationalization and increasing global exchange. A vital role in this expansion has been played by international conferences and associations that facilitate translocal exchanges.1 It was at this moment of expansion and in concord with Latin America’s own historical logics that we created the Latin American Association for the Study of Writing in Higher Education and Professional Contexts, ALES, the organization that sponsored the meeting where this book was conceived. I am honored to be the editor of this volume, which has allowed me to learn from this unique compilation of diverse voices and tell the readers our Association’s story in first person. In October 2016, a vibrant symposium was held in Santiago at the University of Chile, promoted by Argentine researcher Federico Navarro. After its closing, a group of scholars from several countries sat on a restaurant’s terrace to think about the terms we wanted for an association that would foster the specialization and academic development of our area of study. We defined a vision and determined some fundamental elements of this proposal, established a board of directors and bylaws to ensure a democratic governance, and began to plan a second conference. The II ALES International Conference was held at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in October 2018 and attracted researchers and attendees from 13 countries. At this conference, two key principles of the ALES philosophy guided the decision-making and the editorial line. The first