This special collection builds on a two-day interdisciplinary workshop held in November 2022 at the Nordic Institute of Latin American Studies (NILAS) at Stockholm University. The workshop was part of the network project “New Approaches and Synergies in Nordic Latin-American Studies: Applying Area Studies in a Multipolar World” (2022-2024), funded by the Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) and including researchers from five Nordic universities (Copenhagen, Oslo, Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Helsinki). The discussions Nordic and Latin American scholars at different career stages had in Stockholm shaped the articles included in this special collection. The articles approach these aspects in a transdisciplinary perspective – based on the joint discussions during the workshop – which includes political science, geography, economy, anthropology and law studies.