Our Aims and Objectives

We are the UK association for all those who research, study and teach global development issues

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What is Development Studies

What is development studies and decolonising development.

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Our Members

We have around 1,000 members, made up of individuals and around 40 institutions

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Governance

Find out about our constitution, how we are run and meet our Council

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People

Meet our Council members and other staff who support the running of DSA

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About

The DSA Conference is an annual event which brings together the development studies community

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DSA2025

Our conference this year is themed "Navigating crisis: dangers and opportunities in development"

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Past Conferences

Find out about our previous conferences

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Study Groups

Our Study Groups offer a chance to connect with others who share your areas of interest

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Students and ECRs

Students and early career researchers are an important part of our community

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Publications

Our book series with OUP and our relationship with other publishers

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Decolonising Development

The initiatives we are undertaking that work towards decolonising development studies

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Membership Directory

Find out who our members are, where they are based and the issues they work on

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Religions and development

Convenors

Emma Tomalin (University of Leeds)

[email protected]

Dr Jennifer Philippa Eggert

[email protected]

 

Forthcoming meetings

TBD

Previous meetings

June 2024, DSA conference, hybrid

The Religious and Development study group convened a roundtable on the roles of local faith actors in peacebuilding, sharing initial findings from the British Academy-funded ‘Hidden Peacebuilders’ research project in Burundi, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The roundtable speakers included researchers and practitioners from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

June 2023, DSA conference, hybrid

The Religious and Development study group convened a roundtable on the state of the evidence in religions and development and a workshop on LGBTQ+ and faith in international development, bringing together researchers, activists and practitioners from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.

July 2022, DSA conference, online

The Religious and Development study group convened a workshop on ‘Faith-sensitive, creative and decolonial research and learning’, bringing together researchers and practitioners from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

June 2021, DSA conference, online

The Religious and Development study group convened three roundtables on ‘Decolonisation, Development and Faith’, which brought together researchers and practitioners from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

June 2020, DSA conference, online

The Religion and Development study group convened two panels on ‘Faith Leadership for Global Challenges’ at the DSA Conference 2020. The panels included papers that explored the breadth of faith leadership, including local and ‘a-typical’ leaders who are often marginalised from global decision-making processes due to their sex, caste, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or their traditional or indigenous identity.

June 2019, DSA conference, The Open University

The Religion and Development study group convened a panel on ‘Religions and Climate Action’ at the DSA Conference 2019.

June 2018, DSA conference, University of Manchester

The Religion and Development study group convened two panels:
● ‘Intervention in ‘Chaos Zones’: Humanitarian Assistance and Peacebuilding. This was a joint panel with the NGOs in Development Study Group.
● The Role of Faith Identities and Actors in Combating Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

June 2017 DSA conference, University of Bradford

The Religion and Development study group convened a panel on ‘The Increasing Space for ‘Moral Economies’ in the Light of Global Inequality: The Role of Religions and Faith Perspectives’

February 2017, workshop, University of Bath

The Religions and Development Study Group organised a one-day workshop on ‘Methodological Challenges of Researching Religion in Marginalised Development Contexts’ at the University of Bath in February 2017. It saw the coming together of researchers and representatives of faith-based organisations from various faith perspectives including Christian and Muslim traditions.

June 2016, DSA conference, University of Oxford

The Religion and Development study group convened a panel on ‘The Role of Religion in Defining and Realising the SDGs’.

April 2016, launch workshop, SOAS

The DSA Study Group on Religions and Development was launched at a full-day workshop at SOAS University, London. The event reflected on previous research on religions and development and brought together academics, NGO researchers and practitioners from a range of different universities and NGOs, including CAFOD, World Vision, Islamic Relief and the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities.