As the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Bath marks its 50th anniversary, it reflects on its history of growth and transformation. The Centre has adapted to the changing landscape of global development, while maintaining a principle of conducting rigorous, participatory research that elevates the voices of marginalised communities. 

Established in 1975, the Centre for Development Studies was originally focused on poverty reduction and inequality, particularly in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh. Over the years, the Centre’s research agenda expanded to encompass a diverse range of critical development issues, including the political economy of resources and environmental sustainability, conflict, humanitarianism, and social policy.

“What defines us today is linked to the ongoing debates within the field of Development Studies,” explains Dr Aurelie Charles, Co-Director of CDS. “We’ve recently hired a very diverse group of young scholars who are redefining our future research directions, but we remain grounded in empirical, participatory work, the current global challenges and the numerous levels of vulnerability attached to that.”

The participatory approach at CDS is most important. Rather than parachuting in as outside experts, the centre’s researchers are committed to building equitable partnerships with local organisations and community groups, ensuring that their work is shaped by the priorities and perspectives of those most impacted by development interventions.

“A lot of our colleagues are really keen to understand what’s going on at the ground level,” says Dr Charles. Research such as that done in the 1990s by Sarah White, Allister McGregor’s work on wellbeing concepts in different contexts, or Professor Roy Maconachie’s research on the impacts of extractive industries in West Africa highlight the voices of people who are suffering from the impact of global capitalism and bringing it to the the international scene.

A commitment to participatory research is also reflected in the teaching programs related to CDS and hosted in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences, which place a strong emphasis on the link between theory and practice.

The Department Centre initially offered a BSc with a strong economics focus, and this is still popular today.  In their third year, undergraduate students have the opportunity to complete a placement in the UK or abroad as part of their degree, while postgraduate students can choose to do a dissertation or a 300-hour practicum with an NGO or development organisation.

At postgraduate level, there is a suite of Masters programmes as well as their campus-based MSc in International Development which now offers two new specialisms in Education and Management, available both full- and part-time. Bath’s Master of Research in International Development is linked to the South West Doctoral Training Partnership and Economic and Social Research Council funding and allows students to broaden their knowledge and research skills, and prepare for their PhD.

An interdisciplinary orientation is another hallmark of CDS, with researchers hailing from backgrounds in economics, politics, sociology, and beyond. The centre also has strong ties to other faculties at the University of Bath, collaborating with colleagues in psychology, education, engineering and architecture to tackle complex, cross-cutting development challenges.

“We have those who have been trained in interdisciplinary development studies, so there is a sense of interdisciplinarity within development that many of us bring. But there are also people who have been trained in, for example, economics, politics or sociology, but share that very strong commitment to an interdisciplinary orientation.” says Dr Mihika Chatterjee, CDS Bath Co-director. 

“There’s a lot of internal discussion about what this interdisciplinarity means for the kind of collaborative research we can produce, including with colleagues from engineering or management,” Dr Chatterjee adds. “And this, of course, is linked to  ongoing conversations about decolonising knowledge production, which is a key concern not just for us, but for the broader field of development studies.”

CDS actively engages with the University of Bath’s Decolonising Knowledge research cluster and many of its members are actively engaged in efforts to rethink the ways in which development knowledge is generated and disseminated.

“Many of us are within those conversations about how we bring in the realities and legacies of imperialism and colonialism, particularly when we think about our research on resources, extractive industries and sustainability, or even research methodologies. Our teaching has evolved, and the way our programs are shaped today reflects those discussions of decolonisation, interdisciplinarity, and the uneasy but important connections between development studies as a critical field of knowledge and development practice,” says Dr Chaterjee. She explains that many CDS researchers have extensive experience working in development practice, whether with international NGOs, local organisations, or multilateral institutions, many dating back to the 1980s and 1990s when they collaborated directly with governments in the Global South. This grounding in real-world development work informs CDS’s ongoing efforts to decolonise the field of development studies, what it means to challenge traditional power structures and epistemologies, while also ensuring that this critical, decolonial lens is applied to the center’s engagement with development practice and policy. “I think most of us agree that the debates and disagreements we have about and within Development Studies makes it more, and not less, relevant and powerful”

A focus on development practice is also reflected in CDS’s research themes, which include a dedicated stream on Development policy, practice, poverty and political economy. Here, the focus is on approaches to qualitative impact evaluation, working closely with the Institute for Policy Research to ensure that their work has tangible policy and programmatic implications.

This impact is assessed across the Centre’s three other research themes: Conflict, Migration and Humanitarian Action; Social Justice, Sustainability and Wellbeing; Global Public Health and Education.. 

Those attending DSA2025, which is hosted this year by CDS Bath, will notice that CDS also anchors its values and research within the localities of the Southwest region. CDS has done a voluntary local review of the SDGs within Bath and North East Somerset; they have been engaged with the climate action framework on campus at the University of Bath. And they have set up the Southwest International Development Network of Southwest NGOs to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration. This regional network is also planned to be included as part of the upcoming DSA conference. 

As one of the founding members of the DSA, this is not the first time CDS has hosted the DSA conference which Dr Chaterjee describes as an important, welcoming space for interdisciplinary thinking and engagement on development challenges.The co-directors of CDS hope the conference will be a good showcase for CDS researchers to interact with practitioners, activists, and other academics in the institute’s 50th year – and the best way for that to happen is to take part in DSA2025!

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