ABSTRACT
Paradiplomacy has become a growing focus of interdisciplinary scholarship, encompassing international relations, political science, urban studies, geography, and beyond. Despite this academic expansion, a systematic understanding of the field's thematic evolution and geographical diversity remains limited. This chapter addresses this gap by comprehensively mapping 1,548 scholarly publications, covering papers, books, and chapters published in multiple languages. Our analysis reveals that paradiplomacy has grown significantly since the 1990s, with a sharp increase in publications from 2020 to 2024. Contributions originate from 73 countries, with notable scholarly hubs in China, Indonesia, the United States, Brazil, and several European countries. However, research remains fragmented, with most studies focusing on domestic cases. Cross-border collaboration and comparative analyses are rare. Linguistic diversity is both a strength and a limitation. While English remains dominant in high-impact journals, nearly half of all publications are written in other languages, such as Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. These linguistic barriers contribute to the formation of isolated academic “bubbles,” particularly in Latin America and Asia, and limit the global circulation of non-English contributions. Additionally, regional and thematic imbalances persist. Scholars predominantly study their own regions, and topics like transnational city networks are underrepresented outside the Global North. As a result, the development of universal theoretical frameworks is hindered by a lack of cross-regional dialogue. This chapter calls for greater international collaboration, multilingual dissemination, and theoretical inclusivity to foster a more integrated and globally relevant field of paradiplomacy studies.
