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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Our aims and objectives

We work to promote and advance global development as a field of study, research and action

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Delegates look towards presenter in panel DSA2024

About us

The UK association for all those who research, teach and study global development issues.

The Development Studies Association promotes and advances international development as a field of study, research and action. We aim to deepen understanding of how global poverty, inequalities, conflict and environmental destruction are produced, sustained and may be overcome, and how a better future may be advanced.

The DSA is a membership organisation, with both individual and institutional members, and is wholly funded through its membership premiums and activities.

 

Our aims and activities

We aim to:

  • advance understanding of international development
  • share information on development research and teaching
  • encourage more equitable North-South and interdisciplinary exchange and cooperation

We do this through:

  • our annual conference
  • promoting study groups and workshops
  • publications
  • offering funding and prizes
  • supporting students and Early Career Researcher (ECR) networking and events
  • sharing news through our website, newsletter and social media
  • providing an open access directory of members
  • representing the UK development studies community within other organisations, such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF), Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), European Association of Development, Research and Training Institutes (EADI)
  • holding meetings for development studies centres to discuss issues facing the sector
 

Join us

Connecting the UK’s development research community

We welcome anyone with an interest in development studies. We have over 600 members, made up of individuals and around 40 institutions. Our members come from all over the world but most are based in the UK.

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Three delegates in lecture theatre of DSA2024