Welcome to Development Studies Association
The Development Studies Association is the UK's learned society and professional body for academic teaching and research, policy and practice in the field of international development.
While the annual conference is a principal focus for the association, the DSA is active throughout the year through its many Study Groups. All those involved in development whether as teachers, researchers, consultants or practitioners, are welcome to join both the Study Groups and the DSA itself.
DSA news
DSA2017: Sustainability interrogated: societies, growth, and social justice
The annual conference took place at the University of Bradford from 6-8th September 2017. Approximately 300 colleagues - practitioners, consultants, academics, NGO workers, graduate students and school students – attended for three stimulating days in Bradford. Further information can be found on the conference website.
Development and Change Annual Lecture
Keynote: Michael Redclift (Kings College)
Sustainable development in the age of contradictions
Development Studies Association Annual Conference
September 6th, 17:45-19:00, Great Hall, Richmond building, University of Bradford
Sponsored by Development and Change
The lecture was recorded and will be available on the journal’s website.
Oxford Development Studies Annual Lecture
Keynote: Shanta Devarajan (World Bank Chief Economist, Middle East and North Africa Region)
What to do when markets and governments fail poor people
Development Studies Association Annual Conference
Friday 8th September 14:15-16:15 Keynotes 3 and 4, Great Hall (Richmond Building, University of Bradford)
Read the abstract
Call for conference hosts for the next two years
The DSA is seeking bids from colleagues to host the next two 'editions' of the DSA annual conference. Please read more about the process here, and submit your bids by 30th September 2017.
DSA AGM
The DSA AGM took place on 8th Sept at 13:00-14:00 at University of Bradford, main items were the President's report, Approval of accounts and Election of new council members. The agenda can be viewed on the website here and the minutes will be posted in due course.
Dissertation Prize Awards
2015 saw the launch of an annual dissertation prize in partnership with the International Consulting Economists Association (ICEA). The annual prize of £1000 is awarded to the best Masters level dissertation in development studies or development economics. At DSA2017 we congratulated the two winners of the 2017 prize, Henna Akram (SOAS) and Paul Fenton Villar (UEA), but also the 2016 winner, Robert Mwanamanga (Bradford University). All three presented their work within conference panels.
DSA-OUP book series second & third titles are now available
Playing with Fire: Deepened Financial Integration and Changing Vulnerabilities of the Global South by Yilmaz Akyüz ISBN 9780198797173 2017
Taken for a Ride: Grounding Neoliberalism, Precarious Labour, and Public Transport in an African Metropolis by Matteo Rizzo ISBN 9780198794240 2017
IN: Critical Frontiers Of Theory, Research, And Policy In International Development Studies
Study group news
Links to future SG events can be seen in the side bar on the right (or beneath on narrower screens). Other news follows.
DSA Rising Powers Study Group
A podcast of Lord Jim O'Neill's talk, "Are rising powers really rising?", given at the final conference of the ESRC Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures programme in Manchester in June, is now available here.
DSA Gender Policy and Practice Study Group
Meeting report and talks - April 2017 - on the SG webpage. There will be a follow-up meeting later in 2017.
DSA Scotland Study group
DSA Scotland provides an update from the Centre for African Research on Enterprise and Economic Development (CAREED) at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Report of 2nd annual conference in April 2017 available here.
DSA Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change Study group
New book from members of the Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change study group - see SG webpage
DSA Women and Development Study Group and Centre for Global Development (CGD)
Workshop Report - 17 March 2017 - on the SG webpage
DSA Religion and Development Study group
Methodological challenges of researching religion in marginalized development contexts
Meeting report now on SG website
New book from the NGOs in Development SG
Negotiating Knowledge: evidence and experience in development NGOs, edited by Study Group members Rachel Hayman, Sophie King, Tiina Kontinen and Lata Narayanaswamy will shortly be published by Practical Action Publishing. The book has contributions from Kate Gooding, Kai Matturi, Erla Thrandardottir and Swetha Rao Dhananka. Read more.
DSA Urbanisation and Development SG briefing paper regarding the new Urban Agenda
Following on from a one-day workshop the Study group has produced a briefing paper on the draft of the new Urban Agenda. Read more.
Premium Member news
What Works for Africa’s Poorest? has been made Open Access. Edited by GDI’s Prof David Hulme, Dr David Lawson and alumnus Dr Lawrence Ado-Kofie, the book examines why policies and programmes work to reduce poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa – and why sometimes they don’t.
GDI has launched a podcast series, which will feature discussion and debate between world-leading experts in addition to lectures, seminars and workshops.
- The latest episode is In Conversation: Dr Mercedes González de la Rocha and Prof Diana Mitlin, where the two discuss urban inequalities, clustered disadvantages, and Dr González de la Rocha’s research to evaluate the impact of Mexico’s conditional cash transfer programme Oportunidades.
This summer, GDI’s researchers have published two books, 19 journal articles and four conference proceedings. Read about poverty reduction in Kazakhstan, Kenyan horticulture, and development management in our research roundup.
The University of Manchester published a compendium of commentary on Global Inequalities by its researchers, featuring ten GDI academics.
Prof Bina Agarwal was awarded Order of Agricultural Merit (Ordre du Mérite Agricole) in a ceremony at the French embassy in Delhi.
Our latest staff spotlight features Dr Tom Gillespie, who studies global urban development.
Dr Purnima Purohit was remembered by her ‘PhD gang’.
12 Ugandan development workers to begin studying The Open University’s MSc in Development Management in November this year, thanks to funding from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission
Work undertaken by The Open University, with a network of African and other experts, is contributing to policy change around industry and healthcare in East Africa and internationally.
Open University gives evidence at the fourth of the thematic sessions for the UN compact for safe, orderly and regular migration at the UN Headquarters in New York
Dr Sandip Hazareesingh and Dr Volker Patent were lead OU academics for the fascinating and poignant OU/BBC co-production Dangerous Borders: A journey across India and Pakistan. Watch again on BBC iPlayer, and visit OpenLearn where there is a wide range of learning materials and exclusive interviews related to the topics in the programme.
A new blog series on ‘statelessness’ launches on 6 September on Discover Society, and will feature experts talking from a range of perspectives. The blogs relate to the recently published book, Understanding Statelessness, which was co-authored by OU academic Dr Tendayi Bloom
The Department of International Development at the London School of Economics would like to congratulate the following students for being awarded their PhD in the last year:
Digital faith: social media and the enactment of religious identity in Pakistan
(Supervisor: Dr Shirin Madon)
Naomi Pendle
Laws, landscapes and prophecy: The art of remaking regimes of lethal violence amongst the western Nuer and Dinka (South Sudan)
(Supervisor: Professor Tim Allen)
Economic evaluation of gender empowerment programmes with a violence prevention focus: objective empowerment and subjective wellbeing
(Supervisor: Dr Diana Weinhold)
The Politics of Space: Negotiating Tenure Security in a Nairobi Slum
(Supervisor: Dr Kate Meagher)
He who touches the weapon becomes other: a study of participation in armed groups in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
(Supervisor: Dr Elliott Green)
Conferences
The Second International Symposium on Development and Governance in the BRICS
Call for papers: International Development Aid in the BRICS
Date: 23-24 September 2017
Host and Venue: Fudan University, Shanghai, China
See all the details on the website.
The Indian Society Of Labour Economics
59th Annual Conference
16-18 December 2017, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Call for papers and invitation for participation
Visit the website for all the details.
Courses
London International Development Centre
Evaluation for Development Programmes short course
13 to 17 November 2017
London International Development Centre is excited to announce the launch of our 2017 Evaluation for Development Programmes Short Course!
If you want to enhance your skill set by improving your knowledge of monitoring and evaluating then register today.
For more details about the course, including information about the bursaries available and how to register, see our website here.
London School of Economics (LSE)
LSE launches new MSc programme for Health and International Development
The Department of International Development at the London School of Economics will offer students the opportunity to study for an MSc in Health and International Development from September this year.
The new programme will teach students how to understand the complex relationships between health, poverty and inequality in and across low and middle-income countries through evaluating multi-disciplinary evidence on a range of global health issues and interventions. Students will also learn to apply this evidence to policy analysis whilst developing and understanding how politics, power and moral frameworks influence global health policy.
University of Derby
Joint Honours Degree in Global Development
“The Joint Honours Degree in Global Development at the University of Derby adopts inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding the contemporary challenges associated with development. It emphasizes a critical understanding of development issues in economically developed and less developed countries from a local to global scale. The subject equips you with an appropriate set of specialist, intellectual and personal transferable skills of lifelong value that are required by graduate employers. The focus placed on practical experience and vocational placements provides you with opportunities to gain valuable real world experience.
For more information about our course, please visit the website.
INTRAC (International NGO Training and Research Centre)
Online fundraising for sustainability, 25 September – 3 November 2017
Our new online course will provide you with an opportunity to deconstruct the term ‘fundraising’ and view it from the angle of organisational development and sustainability. Fundraising for sustainability is built around the aim of reducing an organisation’s exposure to risk whilst increasing its ability to pursue strategic goals.
Learn more about the course and apply now!
Theory of change for planning and impact assessment, 2 – 6 October 2017, Oxford
This course introduces the elements of theory of change and offers the opportunity for participants to apply and experiment with the key ideas and processes using their own case studies, as well as illustrative examples presented by the course facilitator.
Online monitoring and evaluation, 4 October – 15 November 2017, Oxford
This course will strengthen your skills in supporting the monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes from programme design through to evaluation and impact assessment, and help you to tackle monitoring and evaluation challenges that you may be facing.
University of East Anglia
Short Courses for International Development Professionals
Forest Governance Online Course 2018 - survey
The School of International Development at the University of East Anglia has been running residential training courses for professionals from around the world for many years.
We want to make these courses more widely accessible, particularly to overcome visa issues and funding constraints for participants. So we are exploring the option of running such courses in an online format.
We would like you to take part in a survey to help us determine if there is demand for a (payable) online course in Equitable Forest Governance, and what learners would require from such a course.
The course would reflect the content of the ' Equitable Forest Governance: A Practical Approach' classroom course, directed by Dr Oliver Springate-Baginski, with input from expert academics and practitioners.
It would take place in an online collaborative learning environment, with peer and expert assessment of assignments, and a certificate of completion. Slow internet should not be a constraint; this would mean the core content of the residential course would be accessible at lower cost to learners almost anywhere in the world.
We would be very grateful if you would answer the following questions. It should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. We look forward to receiving your responses and designing a course which will be useful to you.
Meetings & Seminars
None at this time
Job vacancies
SOS Sahel UK
SOS Sahel UK are currently recruiting for 2 trustees for our board.
More details are on our website.
Other News
PAIS, Warwick University
Warwick Global Research Priorities in International Development
It has been a busy year for Warwick’s GRP International Development. There were many events – small and big, workshops, films – all organised around the Annual Theme - Challenging Inequalities, Transforming Gender Relations in the 21st Century.
We brought together academics, practitioners, students and civil society organizations to address the annual theme in a number of different contexts and forums. Highlights included the launch of Professor Shaheen Sardar Ali’s book Modern Challenges of Islamic law, a public lecture “Gender Inequality and Economic Inequality” by Professor Diane Elson, a panel on gender and development from a practitioner's perspective - “Why should gender matter to development?” with practitioners Caroline Sweetman, Oxfam, editor of Gender and Development, Gabriella Pinto, Plan International UK’s Gender Adviser and Sarah Lester from Practical Action), a panel on Women in Science with panelists Professor Jane Hutton, University of Warwick, winner of the Suffrage Science award, Professor Faith Osier, winner of the Fifth Annual Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award and a member of the Royal Society, Professor Charlotte Watts, founder of the Gender, Violence and Health Centre and Chief Scientific Advisor at DfID; it was chaired by Professor Swaran Singh, lead on Mental Health and Wellbeing at Warwick Medical School.
We wrapped up our annual theme with our first postgraduate conference Changing Landscapes of Gender In/equality : Theories, Policies and Mobilisations. the role of change? The conference was followed by the GRP International Development Annual Lecture by Dr Uma Chakravarti “Oppositional Imaginations: Resisting the Violence of Normal Times” and the announcement of GRP International Development Annual Photography Competition winners.
We also had some excellent events organised by Another India. Another India recently joined The NEW South Asia Network, a collaboration between research institutes and initiatives at the Universities of Nottingham, Edinburgh and Warwick.
We not only hosted events that raised the profile of international development within Warwick, but also supported the development of collaboration between colleagues to generate innovative and critical research. We will continue to build on this year’s work while working on our next Annual Themes which will be Poverty, Inequality and Development.
Evidence Information Service
Academic survey on engagement with parliament
We are a group of academics from the Cardiff University, University of Exeter, University College London, University of Bath and University of Bristol working with the House of Commons Library and the National Assembly for Wales Research Service to develop a UK Evidence Information Service (EIS).
The EIS will act as a rapid matchmaking and advisory service, working with existing UK parliamentary systems to connect politicians with the wider network of academics and professionals in science, technology, engineering, maths, medicine, humanities and the social sciences. More details about the project can be found in our Guardian article and GW4 webpage.
We are seeking the confidential views of academics on their attitudes to and experiences of evidence-based policy-making, the usefulness of the EIS and their potential contribution.
The survey is part of the UK Evidence Information Service (EIS) project. We are working with the four UK legislative bodies – UK Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly – and are interested in gathering information from academics, including their experience of engaging. The results will be published and publicly available.
We therefore invite all UK researchers in academia and industry to complete an 5-10 minute survey.
NGOs and student internships: who benefits?
Discussions between academics and practitioners have highlighted that there are many opportunities for collaboration between NGOs and students, either directly or through the student’s institution, and a variety of outcomes for both parties from these collaborations.
As part of DSA's commitment to supporting and facilitating collaborations between under and postgraduate students and the development community in the form of short projects or longer internships in the UK and internationally, we would like to hear NGO experiences of hosting students, the forms this has taken, and what makes internships successful. Enter this conversation here.
Publications
IGHD, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Performance Based Financing for Tuberculosis Care: Are Provider Incentives the Answer?
New Evidence Summary from Professor Sophie Witter and Dr Karin Diaconu of the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) and Curatio International Foundation. It presents a brief summary of evidences of TB specific Performance Based Financing (PBF) programs. The review is suitable for a wide audience including policy makers, healthcare researchers and health managers interested in learning more about PBF schemes in Tuberculosis Care. Found out more on the Curatio website under the heading ‘Performance Based Financing for Tuberculosis Care’.
Leaving no one behind: lessons on rebuilding health systems in conflict and crisis-affected states
A BMJ Global Health paper from the ReBUILD Consortium, of which IGHD is a partner, which draws on the breadth of the first phase of their research. This sought to understand key issues inhibiting health systems strengthening in these settings and how these could be addressed. Find access to the paper on the ReBUILD Consortium website.
Video: Health Systems Resilience: A Complex Adaptive Systems Analysis
A ReBUILD Consortium affiliate research project, implemented by IGHD Direct Prof. Alastair Ager in his capacity at the Mailman School of Public Health and in collaboration with the School of Public Health, University of Western Cape. A video describing the case studies has been produced and can be found on the Health Systems Resilience pages of the ReBUILD Consortium website.
Open University
Party Politics and the Political Economy of Ghana’s Oil (New publication by Professor Giles Mohan) - Professor Mohan examines the limited impact of oil exploitation in Ghana despite the country’s strong democratic record and internationally acclaimed oil governance legislation. Published in Innovation and Development in July 2017
Which inclusive innovation? Competing normative assumptions around social justice (New publication by Professor Theo Papaioannou and Dr Les Levidow) - Professor Papaioannou and Dr Levidow consider social inclusion models in the context of strategic debate towards opening up inclusive innovation to more conscious political choices. Published in ‘Innovation and Development in July 2017
Development engineering meets development studies (New publication by Peter Robbins, Andrew Watkins, David Wield & Gordon Wilson)
Examining the profile and effectiveness of engineering in international development. Published in Innovation and Development in July 2017
Local production of pharmaceuticals and health system strengthening in Africa: An Evidence Brief (New publication by Professor Maureen Mackintosh and Dr Julius Mugwagwa) - Explores evidence around the medical supply chain and industrialisation in Africa. Published in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development publication, Healthy Developments, in July 2017.
Practical Action Publishing
Publishing and distributing books since 1974
Waterlines Vol 36 Iss 3 – latest Open Access articles
Heather Purshouse, Nicholas Roxburgh, Matthias Javorszky, Andrew Sleigh, David Kimani, and Barbara Evans
Brecht Mommen, Karen Humphries-Waa, and Stanley Gwavuya
New Open Access publication from Professor Robert Chambers
Can We Know Better? Reflections for Development
‘T.S. Eliot famously asked, “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” The answer: it is here,
in this book, in the accumulated knowledge of Robert Chambers’ six decades
of experience and thinking about development,
and in the great wisdom he brings to bear on the fantasies and foibles of practitioners, academics and funders. All of them should take time to read
this important book and to think hard about what it means when they go
back to their work.’
Ian Smillie, CASID
Practical Action Publishing Knowledge eLibraries
Online book collections available for institutional subscription purchase or perpetual sale. Read more about the collection or request a FREE institutional trial.
Routledge and DSA affiliate program
Browse Routledge’s extensive collection of development studies titles here, and get your 20% DSA discount by entering code AF039 at checkout!
New this month:
Understanding Global Poverty: Causes, Capabilities and Human Development, by Serena Cosgrove and Benjamin Curtis
Understanding Global Poverty introduces students to what poverty is, why it is pervasive across human societies, and how it can be reduced through proven policy solutions. Using the human development and capabilities, the book foregrounds the human aspects of poverty, keeping the voices, experiences, and needs of the world’s poor at the heart of the analysis. This textbook is an accessible and engaging introduction, with key questions, case studies and discussion questions to help learning.
The Critical Development Studies (CDS) network
The Critical Development Studies (CDS) network announces the publication, by Routledge in its Critical Development Studies series,
of The Essential Guide to Critical Development Studies (2017),
edited by Henry Veltmeyer and Paul Bowles. Forty authors from
across the globe reflect on diverse dimensions of the development project and process from a critical perspective. The handbook is available in paperback and as an ebook, and
can be purchased at a 20% discount by entering the code FLR40 at checkout.
INTRAC
Download your free copy of the latest INTRAC Newsletter. This issue includes a viewpoint by Charles Buxton on the need to stay committed to organisation's values in the absence of regular funding, an article by Svetlana Dzardanova on civil society, activism and the state in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and an update on the Consultants for Change programme from Nicole Titera.
Plus details about recent work with the Foundation for Civil Society in Tanzania and the Civil Society Support Programme in Ethiopia, our training calendar including our brand new online training 'Fundraising for sustainability', Development in Practice's Special Issue on faith and development, and a guest blog by Wine Tesseur from University of Reading on languages and the SDGs!
INTRAC blog
Why are languages missing from the Sustainable Development Goals? Guest blog by Wine Tesseur
In May 2017, Wine Tesseur participated in the Symposium on 'Language, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and vulnerable populations' at the United Nations in New York, where she presented some of the early findings from The Listening of NGOs project. UN policy makers, NGO practitioners, and scholars participated in the two-day Symposium, which highlighted the central role of language in development. Participants emphasised that disregarding language in policy efforts often undermines such efforts and ultimately hinders progress towards achieving the SDGs. Read Wine's blog post 'Why are languages missing from the Sustainable Development Goals?'.
Leonard Cheshire Disability Research Centre
PhD candidate Hridaya Devkota has published key finding from his PhD thesis
Leonard Cheshire Disability Research Centre PhD candidate Hridaya Devkota has published key finding from his PhD thesis ‘The attitude of healthcare providers towards disability and women’s experience in the use of maternal healthcare services in Nepal’
The study used a mixed method approach, implementing an attitude survey among 396 healthcare providers and 18 in-depth interviews with women with disabilities in one of the southern districts of Nepal between Oct. 2014 – February 2015. The study found negative attitudes of healthcare providers towards disability with poor knowledge and skills providing services to women with disabilities. The full article can be found here.
Leonard Cheshire Girls Education Challenge briefing papers published
Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre (LCDIDC) have published a series of briefing papers on the DFID-funded Girls Education Challenge research project “Pioneering Inclusive Education Strategies for disabled girls in the Lake Region of Kenya”. These research briefs provide the key findings, gaps in knowledge and recommendations from the four year project which analysed the physical, cultural and social barriers to primary school-aged girls with disabilities. The suggestions provide practical and sustainable strategies to ensure girls with disabilities receive a full, quality and inclusive education in Kenya. These papers can be downloaded on the LCDIDC GEC website.
Oxford University Press
Open Access from Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is mission-driven to support the broad dissemination of high-quality, peer reviewed academic research. Important works in the development economics area are now available as open access books, published under a Creative Commons licence so they are free to download and share. All our open titles are freely available on Oxford Scholarship Online as well as through our partner sites: Google Books, the OAPEN Library and Directory of Open Access Books, and ECONSTOR - accessible worldwide and free online forever.
Joel R. Matthews - DSA member
Based on research in Niger, this paper discusses a system of innovation operating among Hausa farmers in Niger which challenges diffusion of innovations theory and demonstrates how indigenous people in one of the poorest countries on earth are innovating without support from development agencies. Indeed, much of the social innovation (SI) processes that are supposed to support indigenous people fail to show respect for their creativity and intelligence. Furthermore, SI interventions tend to come packaged with exogenous participatory processes and they tend to ignore innovation that is already occurring. In some cases more sensible SI can be facilitated by discovering and supporting indigenous processes rather than by focusing on initiating change.
