Our Aims and Objectives
We are the UK association for all those who research, study and teach global development issues
Find Out MoreDSA2027 Conference
University of Sussex, 22-25 June 2027
DSA2027 conference will take place as a hybrid conference, organised and co-hosted by the University of Sussex and Institute of Development Studies (IDS).
The conference convenor is Paul Gilbert of International Development/Anthropology assisted by Ushe Kufakurinani (Geography/International Development), Peter Taylor (IDS), Barbara Crossouard (Centre for International Education), Divya Sharma (SPRU) and Amalavoyal Chari (Economics).
Format: As per the last four years, the conference is hybrid, allowing for delegates to attend in-person or remotely. There will be a range of panel formats including paper, roundtable and experimental panels.
Accessing the conference as a hybrid conference, all the sessions will be recorded and later uploaded to the conference website. To watch the recordings at the end of the conference, log in to the website using the email address used for conference registration.
Conference Theme: Development between hope and critique
When a tech billionaire in the orbit of the US President set about “feeding USAID into the woodchipper” in early 2025, the consequences for the Western development industry were immediate and far-reaching. Partnerships were ruptured, frontline NGO workers lost their jobs, water and sanitation projects were suspended, and lives were lost. Feminist approaches to development, efforts to queer development, and support for racial justice have been subjected to particular hostility as part of an anti-‘woke’ agenda. Aid budgets have been cut with the express intention of increasing military expenditure.
DSA2027 encourages submissions that seek to make sense of this ruptured and reformulated aid landscape, by engaging with development ‘between hope and critique’
We invite submissions that examine the changing role of philanthropies, private sector actors and non-traditional donors. We also encourage papers and panels that reflect on the potency and utility of academic critique of the development industry at a conjuncture when such critique is being co-opted and repurposed by reactionary movements at odds with ideals of internationalism, poverty reduction, peace, empowerment, and sustainable livelihoods. Crucially, we also seek submissions that explore hopeful development futures, recognising that these are increasingly found beyond the OECD-dominated development industry.
The conference also invited panels that extended beyond the central theme, addressing key concerns in development studies.
Find out more about the conference theme
Phishing Scam Alert
There were phishing emails circulating last year pretending to be a conference accommodation booking service. This is a widespread problem, impacting a number of conferences over the past years.
We do NOT book accommodation for conference delegates, so please delete these emails on receipt and do not, under any circumstances, share your card details.
The scammers appear to be using several email addresses such as booking(at)gtravelexpert.com, sometimes hidden behind a conference-related name.
All genuine conference communication will originate from conference(at)devstud.org.uk address.
NB! This is not a data breach – the phishers appear to be picking off the names of accepted authors on the conference website and then finding email addresses on institutional websites.
If you do not recognise the email address, delete such emails. As these emails do not come from our system, we regret we cannot prevent you receiving them.