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. Over 300 colleagues - practitioners, consultants, academics, NGO workers, graduate students and school students – attended for three stimulating days in Bradford. The panel content remains online and films/podcasts will be posted soon.
Development and Change Annual Lecture
The film of Michael Redclift's keynote, Sustainable development in the age of contradictions, sponsored by Development and Change, will be posted on the conference website shortly.
The lecture will also be available soon on the journal’s website.
DSA AGM & New Council members
The DSA AGM took place on 8th Sept at the University of Bradford, the main items were the President's report, Approval of accounts and Election of new council members. You can view the new make-up of the DSA Council here. The reports and agenda from the AGM can be viewed here and the minutes will be posted in due course.
Call for Dissertation Prize Award 2018
The Call for the DSA Dissertation prize 2018 is coming up soon. Nominations may be submitted from Nov 1 - Dec 18 2017. Please see the webpage for more details about this year's call.
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
Young Lives launched key findings from their 2016-17 surveys of school effectiveness, which examined the quality of learning outcomes at upper primary and secondary level in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam. You can watch the launch here.
Drawing on 15 years of research exploring the changing nature of children’s work in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, Dr Ginny Morrow, Young Lives Research Associate presented findings at a special learning event in London. These findings are further explored in a blog by Young Lives Director Jo Boyden, in part reflecting on recently released new Global Estimates on Child Labour from by the ILO.
The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) held a side event at the UN General Assembly on using their Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Watch the video here.
Costa Rica launched a new ' Business Multidimensional Poverty Index', an adaptation for the business sector of OPHI’s Multidimensional Poverty Index that is designed to measure the living conditions of employees and their families.
Professor Cathryn Costello of the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) co-authored a new policy paper that seeks to clarify the correct interpretation of Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, relating to illegal entry, for the UNHCR's Legal and Protection Policy Research Series.
Two ODID researchers have won Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships: Robtel Neajai Pailey will research race-based citizenship in Liberia while Susanne Verheul will explore acts of resistance in the Rhodesian and Zimbabwean judiciaries.
Emeritus Professor Robin Cohen wrote about Refugia, the concept he has developed with Dr Nicholas Van Hear for a new transnational polity – consisting of an 'archipelago' of self-governing units – that offers a different solution to the problem of mass displacement.
Call for articles: the next issue of Forced Migration Review, which will come out in February 2018, will focus on Displacement in the Middle East.
The Guardian Development’s Lucy Lamble published an article titled 'Surviving without Thriving - but all is not lost for the world's 'stunted' children' drawing directly on Young Lives findings that children who were stunted at age one can experience greater than expected 'catch-up' growth This challenges the previous widely held assertion that stunting within the first 1000 days is irreversible in later development. It builds on evidence published in the Lancet this month by Young Lives researchers Mary Penny and Andreas Georgiadis.
Open University workshop explores implications of Open Banking
A recent Open University workshop brought together academics, consumer representatives, regulators and industry to explore the implications of the introduction of Open Banking. During its discussions, the group called for more capable use of comparison websites, greater clarity on intermediaries’ hidden fees and a clearer interface between regulators once Open Banking starts.
New books examine refugee justice and asylum
Two new books on refugee justice and asylum by Dr Victoria Canning, Lecturer in Criminology at The Open University, will launch later this year.
Sanctuary in Sweden: Workshop to discuss support for refugees in Malmö
A workshop organised by The Open University and funded by the ESRC took place on 29 September, addressing the evolving challenges faced by organisations supporting refugee groups in Malmö, Sweden.
OU contribution to the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration
Dr Avi Boukli, Lecturer in Criminology and Dr Tendayi Bloom, Lecturer in Politics & International Studies participated in the thematic meetings relating to smuggling and trafficking of persons at the UN in Vienna at the beginning of September.
OU’s English in Action wins top award for innovation in international education
The OU's English in Action project has won the award for progressive education delivery at this year's PIEoneer Awards. The Awards, which took place in London on 8 September 2017, celebrate the most innovative work being done across the international education sector. The project has also been shortlisted for a THE Award.
OU student speaks about education for girls
OU MSc in Development Management student, Bridget Nagomoro (Founding Chair of Governors for Ibba Girls School in South Sudan), spoke at the Gulmakai Network of activists who support Malala Yousafzai's campaign for girls' education.
DPU's Giorgio Talocci awarded IJHP 'Best Early Career Article' Prize
Congratulations to Giorgio Talocci who has been awarded the International Journal of Housing Policy Best Early Career Article Prize for his article 'The de-politicisation of housing policies: the case of Borei Keila land-sharing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia'
DPU staff continue to be nominated for teaching awards
The Student Choice Teaching Awards are an opportunity for students to thank outstanding members of staff who have contributed to their time at UCL. Following the sucess of Caren Levy winning the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2015, the DPU are delighted to continue to have staff nominated for the awards.
Complex land markets – beyond affordability, availability and accessibility
The DPU's Colin Marx was part of a larger research consortium led by the Institute for Housing Studies in Rotterdam that was successful in its bid to receive funding for a large research project exploring the spatial inequalities in times of transition in complex land markets in Somaliland and Uganda.
An ambitious research programme to make cities fairer is funded by the GCRF
KNOW is guided by the aspiration to produce more equal cities and focuses on three challenges: delivering prosperity, tackling extreme poverty and building resilient cities. With UCL’s Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU) at the forefront of a network of institutions across 9 countries, KNOW seeks to co-produce a combination of city-based research and partnerships of equivalence that will challenge the structural cause of inequality in contemporary cities.
Celebrating 25 Years of Development Studies at SOAS
In September SOAS celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Department of Development Studies. The occasion was marked by a celebration with speeches from Head of Department Dr Michael Jennings, Director of SOAS Baroness Valerie Amos, Emeritus Reader Dr Andrew Turton, who was influential in the creation of the department in the early 1990s, and Professor Alfredo Saad-Filho. The speeches recognised the importance of the department's critical approach to development studies and highlighted the department's focus on linking the central themes and regions in which SOAS has expertise.
The 2016-17 Annual Report of the International Development Department is now available here. The report welcomes several new members of staff to the department, including Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy and Development, and David Hudson, Birmingham Professorial Research Fellow in Politics and Development, and has news of research awards in the past year on the politics of corruption reduction, learning lessons from research on natural resource governance and the political economy of democracy promotion , as well as books on hybridity, climate change and key texts in politics, development and international relations from African Affairs.
Conferences
International Institute for Environment and Development
Development and Climate Days 2017 (D&C Days)
Global ambition | Local action | Climate resilience for all
Location: Kameha Grand, Am Bonner Bogen 1, 53227 Bonn, Germany
Date: 11 - 12 November 2017
This year's D&C days will aim to influence the 'Ambition Mechanism' processes under the UNFCCC - particularly the Facilitative Dialogue and Global Stocktake - and to inform climate action on all levels.
Register for D&C Days 2017
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.
University of East Anglia
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
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
SOAS Department Of Development Studies & UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership
Seminar Series, Term 1, 2017-18 | Tuesdays, 5-7PM | All welcome, no need to book
Room: DLT Lecture Theatre, SOAS Main Building
* 17 October *
Professor Danny Dorling (University of Oxford)
Inequality and Insurrection
* 24 October *
Professor Marcus Rediker (University of Pittsburgh)
History from Below after the Transnational Turn: The Case of a Forgotten 18th-century Revolutionary
* 31 October *
Dr Dale T. McKinley (writer and activist)
South Africa's Corporatised Liberation: An ANC and a Country in Crisis
Further details are available on the SOAS Development Studies Department website.
Oxford Department of International Development (ODID)
2017 Astor Lecture: Agriculture, Technology and Economic Development
Professor Christopher Udry, Northwestern University
19 October 2017, 5:30 pm,
The Simpkins Lee Lecture Theatre,
Lady Margaret Hall, Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6QA
Find out more and register here.
London School of Economics (LSE)
Public launch of LSE's new Global Health research platform
24 October, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building, LSE
The Global Health Initiative is a cross-departmental research platform set up to increase the coherence and visibility of Global Health research activity across LSE. It provides support for interdisciplinary engagement and showcases LSE's ability to apply rigorous social science research to emerging global health challenges.
The provisional programme for the public launch of LSE's new Global Health research platform will include a panel discussion, a keynote speech by Geeta Rao Gupta, and poster exhibition followed by drinks.
Geeta Rao Gupta is Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation. Register for event.
Job vacancies
Ethiopia WIDE Bridge Research
Three research fellow positions 2017/18
Full time for 8 months: Dec 2017 - Jul 2018
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Deadline for applications: Nov 1 2017 (note the date has been extended to what is stated online).
For all the details please see the full advertisement here.
Other News
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
Oxford Department of International Development (ODID)
Naohiko Omata 'Unwelcome Participation, Undesirable Agency? Paradoxes of De-Politicisation in a Refugee Camp' in Refugee Survey Quarterly, DOI: 10.1093/rsq/hdx009
Marta Favara ‘Do Dreams Come True? Aspirations and Educational Attainments of Ethiopian Boys and Girls’ in Journal of African Economies, DOI: 10.1093/jae/ejx018
Georgia Cole 'Beyond Labelling: Rethinking the Role and Value of the Refugee "Label" through Semiotics' in Journal of Refugee Studies, DOI: 10.1093/jrs/fex021
Padmini Iyer and Rhiannon Moore 'Measuring learning quality in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam: from primary to secondary school effectiveness' in Compare, DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2017.1322492.
Alexander Betts ‘Gender Violence, and Deportation: Angola’s Forced Return of Congolese Migrant Workers’ in Susanne Buckley-Zistel, Ulrike Krause (eds) Gender, Violence, Refugees, Berghahn Books
Cathryn Costello ‘On Refugeehood and Citizenship’ in Ayelet Shachar, Rainer Bauboeck, Irene Bloemraad, Maarten Vink (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship, OUP
Matthew Gibney ‘Denationalization’ in Ayelet Shachar, Rainer Bauboeck, Irene Bloemraad, Maarten Vink (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship, OUP
Ulrike Krause, ‘Researching forced migration: critical reflections on research ethics during fieldwork’, RSC Working Paper 123
Alexander Betts, Lena Kainz, ‘The history of global migration governance’, RSC Working Paper 122
Marta Favara (with Catherine Porter, Tassew Woldehanna) ‘Smarter through Social Protection? Evaluating the Impact of Ethiopia’s Safety-Net on Child Cognitive Abilities’, IZA Discussion Paper No 10972
Angela Little, ‘Non-Cognitive’ Constructs and Measures for the Young Lives School Surveys, Young Lives Working Paper 170
Yisak Tafere, ‘Educational Trajectories from Childhood to Early Adulthood: Aspirations, Gender and Poverty in Ethiopia’, Young Lives Working Paper 171.
Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London
The de-politicisation of housing policies: the case of Borei Keila land-sharing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
By Giorgio Talocci & Camillo Boano
Urban polycentricity in northern England: economic catalyst or chimera?
DPU Working Paper #190
By Tom Seymour
Analysis of the economic and urban impacts of Quito’s new airport
DPU Working Paper #189
By Gonzalo Orellana
Freetown’s mudslides and the slippery slope of urban risk in Africa
By Emmanuel Osuteye
‘From state agencies to ordinary citizens: reframing risk-mitigation investments and their impact to disrupt urban risk traps in Lima, Peru’
By Adriana Allen, Linda Zilbert Soto, and Julia Wesley in collaboration with Belkow, T., Ferro, V., Lambert, R., Langdown, I. and Samanamu, A.
'Intra-settlement politics and conflict in enumerations'
By Andrea Rigon
Blogs
What is in a name? Applying critical race and feminist lenses to make knowledge production processes visible
By Kamna Patel
The Amazonian city in Peru at crossroads
By Giovanna Astolfo
Online media
International Development Department University of Birmingham
Blog posts from IDD
Democratic breakthroughs in Africa: time to celebrate but worries still linger By Nic Cheeseman
What approach should we take to resolving conflict? By Paul Jackson
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 books this month:
Gender Responsive Budgeting in Fragile States: The Case of Timor-Leste, by Monica Costa
Hunger and Poverty in South Africa: The Hidden Faces of Food Insecurity, by Jacqueline Hanoman
Democracy and Climate Change, by Frederic Hanusch
Chinese Hydropower Development in Africa and Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Global Dam-Building, edited by Giuseppina Siciliano, Frauke Urban
As the new year of teaching ramps up, you might also want to see our catalogue of textbooks and resources for teaching!
Did you spot us and our books at the DSA conference?
Wiley
Wiley's all-new Development Studies Newsletter brings you the latest news from the Development Studies community, including key conference and society membership information, calls for papers and recent special issues. Sign up here to receive news from the Wiley Development studies community and receive free content.
A special thanks to the University of Bradford and NomadIT for hosting this year’s DSA conference. Click on the URL below to access Wiley’s free conference content collection.
bit.ly/DevStudiesWiley
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
We are happy to announce that this year, the Journal of Peasant Studies has received an Impact Factor of 4.1, placing it 1/84 in Anthropology and 2/54 in Planning & Development. As a way to thank everyone who has engaged with the Journal - as author, peer reviewer, or reader - we're offering free access to 25 articles that have been recently published, available here.
Oxfam
Oxfam Policy & Practice update Oct 2017
Visit our website, read our blog and sign up to our email alerts....
Policy
Oxfam’s Future of Business Initiative: Promoting equitable businesses and fourth sector development
Improving Coordination through Mapping: Using GIS to map community boreholes in South Sudan
Annual report
Women's Economic Empowerment and Care (WE-Care): Overview 2017
Briefing paper
Pathways to Deforestation-Free Food: Developing supply chains free of deforestation and exploitation in the food and beverage sector
Guidelines and toolkits
Research reports
Learning from Hindsight: Synthesis report on Oxfam resilience research
Addressing Water Shortages: A catalyst for more resilient development in Fiji
Blog posts:
The missing piece of the puzzle is the fourth sector
Embracing transformation in the face of climate change
World-wide influencing: what is it?
Using geographic information systems in humanitarian response
Reimagining business to tackle inequality
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.
