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
DSA2019: 'Opening Up Development'
Open University, Milton Keynes
19-21 June 2019
Call for Papers has now closed. Early bird registration opens on 28th February
Panel convenors have made their decisions and are communicating their decisions to all paper proposers. Transfer papers are being processed over the next few weeks. Early-bird registration and the general call for funding will open on 28th February. The 2019 conference will take place at The Open University in Milton Keynes on the theme of 'Opening up Development'. Keep an eye on the conference website for all further announcements.
DSA2019: PhD student Masterclass - Call EXTENDED
There will be a Masterclass for current PhD Students on the morning of 19th June before the main conference begins at the Open University. Spaces are limited, and so, if interested in taking part please see the webpage on how to apply and what is expected from you. Deadline extended: 15th February 2019
‘Meeting the Challenges’ workshop series
How do researchers work across disciplines on global challenges such as health? Videos and blogs from the recent DSA/ESRC workshop on Zoonoses and One Health at the Institute of Development Studies are now available. The ‘Meeting the Challenges’ series continues, with workshops coming up at Bristol University on Educational Inequality, Poverty and Development; at Bradford University on Water and Sustainable Development; and at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies on Collaborations in International Research.
DSA Conference 2020 & 2022 - call for proposals
Applications are invited to host the annual DSA conference in June 2020 or June 2022. The DSA conference is the key annual event for international development in the UK. Our practice is to hold a 2-3 day conference each June, attracting c. 300-500 delegates. Recognising the conference's value in signalling an area of scholarship, applications are invited both from established centres and from universities which have more recently entered the international development field. For all the details on how to apply visit here.
REF2021 panel membership appointments announced
Sub-panel 22: Anthropology & Development Studies
Chair
Professor Deborah James - London School of Economics and Political
Science
Members
Professor Jo Beall - British Council
Professor Barry Bogin - Loughborough University
Dr Peter Evans - Department for International Development
Professor Ravi Kanbur - Cornell Dyson School
Professor Uma Kothari - University of Manchester
Professor Tobias Kelly* - University of Edinburgh
Professor Susanne Kuechler - University College London
Professor David Wield - The Open University
Secretariat
Dr Andrew Taylor - University of Hull
See the full announcement at the REF website
Joe Devine has been invited on to the assessment panel for the REF subpanel Social Work and Social Policy

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
One day workshop
April 29th 2019
Theme of "Rising powers and the recasting of the South".
Abstracts are due by 8th March 2019 to l.cabral(at)ids.ac.uk and rory.horner(at)manchester.ac.uk
Read all the details via the SG webpage.
DSA Scotland Study Group
Update on the availability of materials from the June 2018 Mini-Conference held in the University of Glasgow
It has taken a long time to get the materials from the mini-conference together and on to the University of Glasgow website. Not least of the problems was to obtain signed consent forms from all of those contributors who had presentations (due to the new EU legislation relating to the General Data Protection Regulation).
These materials are now complete, and include – in particular – audio recordings and slide presentations from the Panel on The Future of Aid. The weblink is here.
DSA Urbanisation and Development Study Group
Workshop report
On October 1st, the UCL Development Planning Unit and the
project Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW) hosted a
workshop about “Translocal Pedagogies in Planning Education for Urban
Equality” in collaboration with the DSA Urbanisation and Development
Group. The event brought together 25 participants from academia and
practice in the fields of urban planning and higher education in the
UK and overseas. It facilitated discussions about the potential and
current shortfalls of urban planning education to stimulate learning
across localities. You can find more information about the workshop here.
Premium Member news
The Refugee Studies Centre has published a new report examining Uganda’s self-reliance strategy for refugees. Uganda gives refugees the right to work and freedom of movement, a model that has been widely praised as one of the most progressive refugee policies in the world. The report and an accompanying Research in Brief explore the impact of the strategy.
Departmental Lecturer Dan Hodgkinson co-edited a new special issue of Africa on ‘Student Activism in an Era of Decolonization’, exploring radical politics, elite reproduction, transnational journeys, and oral history. Find out more.
The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative hosted two distinguished lectures: by former Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay on ‘The First Ten Years of Democracy: Reflections from Bhutan’ and by Karma Ura, President of the Center for Bhutan Studies & Gross National Happiness, on ‘Development with Integrity: Bhutan’s Development and its Gross National Happiness Index’. Watch the videos.
Has the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ principle, endorsed by UN member states in 2005, outlived its usefulness? Departmental Lecturer Noele Crossley explores the history of the concept and some alternatives in the latest post to our blog.
Tanja R. Müller begins the first phase of fieldwork in Germany for the British Academy funded Project: Moving the goalposts of citizenship? German business sector engagement and refugee integration.
Uma Kothari, in collaboration with Adele Aubrey from HCRI and Ruth Daniels from In Place of War, was successful for a project on Arts-based Community Education in Fragile Contexts. The project will focus on the development of a new research network of academics and practitioners from Kenya, India and South Africa focusing on arts-based education.
Uma Kothari joined Meghan Markle and university leaders, academics, and international scholarship students at an Association of Commonwealth Universities event on higher education.
The Project Syndicate created a video on the research done by Antonio Savoia and Niaz Asadullah on whether state capacity made an impact on achieving the MDGs.
Bina Agarwal's featured in the Indian Express talking about how the Indian government must address farmers' woes, and needs a multi-pronged strategy of income support, government investment, and institutional innovations, and not a one-size-fits-all approach.
With the global rise of polarisation, nationalism and authoritarianism, are there now limits to working with the grain? Effective States and Inclusive Development researcher Brian Levy discusses.
A group of leading international migration experts – including from the Global Development Institute – has won backing from the UK government’s science and research funding agency to explore how South-South migration is affecting inequality and development in less developed regions.
New finding by Antonio Savoia and Kunal Sen on the OECD blog: Political systems that place stronger constraints on the executive power are more likely to lead to taxation systems that have a higher degree of transparency towards their citizens.
Feyzi Ismail (SOAS) and Kalpana Wilson (Birkbeck) have been awarded funding of £9,945 from the quality-related Global Challenges Research Fund at Birkbeck for their project 'Precarity, Migration and Agency: Women Construction Workers in Nepal'. This extends their LIDC seed fund award for the same project, which is about the gendered working conditions experienced by women construction workers in Nepal and existing and potential strategies for transforming these conditions. It focuses in particular on the impact of the government's post-earthquake Mason Training Schemes aimed at women, trade union interventions around wages and conditions - including sexual harassment and violence - and women workers’ informal collective strategies in negotiating with contractors and employers.
Book launch event for Nationalism, Development and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka
On Tuesday 22 January, the Department hosted a two-part event discussing Rajesh Venugopal's book, Nationalism, Development and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka through Cambridge University Press. The first part features a discussion of the book from the author and Professor David Keen, and was chaired by LSE Fellow Dr Alessandra Radicati. The second part of the event was devoted to discussing the current political crisis in Sri Lanka, with a panel discussion and exchange with the audience. Invited speakers included Iromi Perera (Urban Development Policy Researcher) and Dr Farzana Haniffa (Universoty of Colombo), and was chaired by LSE Fellow Dr Luke Heslop. The audience were welcome to Tweet about the event using the hashtag #LSEsrilanka.
Find out more about the event here.
Political Economy and Governance in Syria Conference
With a grant from the International Development RIIF fund and additional support from the DFID fund, the Conflict Research Programme organised a conference between 4-5 December titled ‘Political Economy and Governance in Syria Conference’. The conference subsumed both academics, especially from LSE ID, and policy makers from the UK, the EU, the UN, Norway, Sweden and Canada.
Find out more about the conference here.
Professor Faguet on why stable political party systems suddenly collapse
Professor Jean-Paul Faguet was interviewed by Professor in Practice and strategic adviser for Oxfam GB, Duncan Green, for his From Poverty to Power podcast series, about his new paper in which he suggests we can open an analytical window into the causes of the rapid collapse of previously stable political party systems by examining the experience of Bolivia.
Listen to the interview and read a short summary of the paper here.
Dr Kar on Financializing Poverty
Dr Sohini Kar spoke to newbooksnetwork.com about her new book Financializing Poverty: labor and risk in Indian microfinance. Drawing on fieldwork with a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) and its intended beneficiaries in the Indian city of Kolkata, the book brings into view the perils of “financial inclusion” for the poor. Kar argues that new streams of credit are increasingly used to capitalise on poverty rather than to challenge it.
Listen to the podcast interview here.
A launch event for the book will be held at LSE on Thursday 21 February.
The Politics of Humanitarianism: Perspectives from South Sudan
On Friday 23 November, the Conflict Research Programme launched a new paper on the politics of humanitarianism in South Sudan, which adds a distinctive perspective to these debates by drawing on the expertise of twelve prominent South Sudanese academics and activists. The event explored issues of humanitarian access, accountability, authority and the roles of South Sudanese humanitarian activists. Jok Madut Jok, Martin Ochaya, Alex de Waal, Naomi Pendle and Rachel Ibreck sat on a panel that collectively questioned norms of humanitarian knowledge production, and discussed the histories and futures of South Sudanese humanitarian agenda setting.
Please contact a.m.robinson(at)lse.ac.uk to request the paper.
Civic urban media at the DPU – new webpage launched
A new page on the website has been launched to curate the DPU's engagements that explore the interface between digital media practices, active citizenship and participation, and urban planning - an area of work the DPU have termed 'civic urban media'
The KNOW project Small Grants Fund is now open for applications
We are pleased to announce the opening of the KNOW Small Grants Fund. The Fund will award grants that enable UK-based scholars at UK universities, policy research institutions, and NGOs with a research portfolio to conduct research relating to the
Collaborative team from DPU and IGP facilitate a participatory spatial intervention in Lebanon
The intervention took place in Bar Elias alongside Catalytic Action and aimed to address vulnerability through infrastructure in the context of large scale displacement.
DPU's Pascale Hofmann successfully defends Eng.D thesis on 'The Dialectics of Urban Water Poverty'
Congratulations to DPU's Pascale Hofmann who has successfully defended her Eng.D thesis
The DPU's Catalina Ortiz awarded the Bartlett ECR GCRF funding
The DPU are delighted that Catalina Ortiz has received £110,000 of Bartlett ECR GCRF funding for her project ‘Activating Learning for Slum Upgrading: A Co-designed Storytelling Platform for Medellin’.
Documenting Mexico’s Geography of Hope
DPU's Étienne von Bertrab, alongside a number of DPU alumni, has founded 'Albora: Mexico’s Geography of Hope', a project that aims bring to visibility to transformative initiatives and efforts throughout the country
BUDD alumni initiative selected as part of Athens' selection as European Capital of Innovation 2018
The initiative, Curing the Limbo, is coordinated by BUDD alumna Stefania Gyftopoulou with a Cases Review on Social Innovation in housing for refugees for the project currently being prepared by DPU's Camillo Boano and Giovanna Astolfo.
IDS Opinion
Insights on studying at IDS from a master’s graduate Tabitha
Tabitha Hrynick
Zimbabwe’s fuel riots: why austerity economics and repression won’t solve the problem
Ian Scoones
Putting the spotlight on ‘participation’ in economics alternatives
Jodie Thorpe
Rethinking community participation in Mozambique’s health service
Denise Namburete
Who are Gaza Sky Geeks? How are they bypassing the blockade
Rebecca Webb
Rebuilding a progressive movement from the ground up in Brazil
Thomas Cooper-Patriota
The University of Wolverhampton working ‘glocally’ for the Sustainable Development Goals
We demonstrate the link between the University of Wolverhampton’s strategy and values and the SDGs, highlighting many initiatives, projects and activities from across the University.
Sponge cities, an SDGs rap and insurance in ‘sachet’ form: Reflections from #APAN2018
Rachel Roland reflects on the 6th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum in Manila.
CIDT support regional workshop for the International Labour Organisation in Moscow
Philip Dearden supports two day Results-Based Management (RBM) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) workshop in Moscow for forty five ILO staff.
CIDT’s achievements in forest governance presented at forest partnership meeting
Aurelian Mbzibain presents at the 18th Meeting of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Parties in Brussels alongside the World Resources Institute to summarise key themes and initiatives that have taken place over the last year, and outline priorities for the future.
CIDT’s strategic planning and programme design experts deliver 5-day training for the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa. The training workshop was built around CIDT’s flagship Strategic Planning Thinking Tools – 7 Simple Steps.
IMISCOE is changing and the OU is involved
As the OU takes part in an event kicking off the restructuring of IMISCOE, Dr Kesi Mahendran urges colleagues to take another look at the international migration, integration and social cohesion network. Read more ...
Understanding what China is doing in Africa – and how Africa should respond
Speaking at the Africa Oil Summit, Professor Giles Mohan contributes to the debate about how African governments can leverage the benefits of Chinese investment. Read more ...
Thinking differently about teacher support in remote schools
It will be impossible to recruit, educate and retain enough teachers in Africa unless we rethink current models of student and teacher learning, says Dr Alison Buckler in her keynote speech to the Ethiopian National Teachers' Conference. She offers some pointers on how this can be done. Read her blog ...
Report explores how to make online teaching work in an international context
A new report in the Quality Enhancement Report Series by Ruslan Ramanau, Lecturer in e-Learning in the Faculty of Business and Law, looks at a series of interventions made to improve retention, pass rates and learning experience for an OU MBA module delivered in Russia. Read more…
Global compact for migration
It's a non-binding agreement between 164 nations to get their act together in coordinating migration and curtailing the chaos that enables human traffickers’ businesses to flourish. So how does it work, who is opposing it, and why? asks Dr Fidèle Mutwarasibo. Read more ...
What makes someone an 'illegal immigrant'?
Also reflecting on the Global Compact, Dr Tendayi Bloom asks what it means for the state to identify someone as an 'illegal' immigrant – or even an 'immigrant' at all. Read more ...
Compassion in volunteering – and in research
In a post based on her prizewinning paper to the 2018 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference, Joanne Vincett shares some of her personal challenges in undertaking research with volunteer befrienders at Yarl’s Wood detention centre. Read more ...
Plea to remain 'open-minded and open-hearted' around religion
The Special Envoy for Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU, Dr Ján Figeľ, reminded OU staff that many religious leaders have far greater influence than politicians when he gave an address at the University’s Christmas event. Dr Figeľ's visit to the Milton Keynes campus was supported by the OU’s International Development and Inclusive Innovation strategic research area. Read more ...
'One day we say that's enough...I'm taking the plunge'
What's it like relocating to your country of heritage? Journalist and development practitioner Yomi Oloko highlights his experiences 'moving back' to Nigeria and offers advice to other diaspora doing the same. Read more ...
NRI is very pleased to welcome Professor Vegard Iversen as the new Head of its Livelihoods and Institutions Department. An applied micro development economist with a PhD from the University of Cambridge, Vegard’s research includes ongoing collaborations focusing on: the colonial origins of agricultural development in India, women’s political representation and its impact on governance, the impacts of large dams on agricultural productivity, vulnerability and poverty, and social mobility in the Global South. Vegard returns to UK academia after twelve years in India, where he has worked both at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy. Vegard succeeds John Morton as Head of the Department – John remains at NRI focussing on research. For more details see here.
NRI is also pleased to announce the following professorial appointments: Adrienne Martin as Professor of Development Studies, Valerie Nelson as Professor of Sustainable Development, Julian Quan as Professor of Land and Development Practice, and Ravinder Kumar as Associate Professor of Monitoring and Impact. For more details see here.
Valerie Nelson is working with the Topic Group on Value Chains and Trade of the International Sustainable Development Research Society. As a result of this work she has authored or co-authored three of the five policy briefs prepared for the ISDRS’s side-event on “Biodiversity Science Policy Challenges: Multifaceted Stakeholder Approaches” at the 14th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. See here.
Lora Forsythe is leading a major work package on “Understanding the drivers of trait preferences and the development of multi-user product profiles”, which includes a substantial component of research on gender and food preferences, for a project entitled “Breeding Root, Tuber and Banana Products for End User Preferences2, led by CIRAD and funded by a consortium led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. See here for more about the project and here for NRI’s involvement.
Apurba Shee participated in two major agricultural economics conferences last summer: the International Conference of Agricultural Economists in Vancouver where he presented “Design and Rating of Risk-Contingent Credit for Balancing Business and Financial Risks for Kenyan Farmers”; and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual meeting in Washington, where he presented on “Heterogeneous Impacts of Credit Rationing on Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from Kenya”.
SIID's Rose Pritchard featured in Kenyan national news discussing recent AfriCultuRes workshop.
Institutional member news
London International Development Centre (LIDC)
London International Development Centre and London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine launch international research hub to tackle child stunting
Up to one million children could benefit from a new £19.76m research hub led by the London International Development Centre (LIDC) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) that aims to further our understanding of the causes of stunting. The UKRI GCRF ‘Action against Stunting Hub’ will aim to reduce child stunting by up to 10% across communities in India, Indonesia and Senegal. It is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), which is a key component in delivering the UK AID strategy and puts UK-led research at the heart of efforts to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Read more here.
EADI
EADI student membership is now free to all students
See here for all the details and how to become an EADI member.
Conferences
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
13th international conference on Community-Based
Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA13)
1-4 April, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
REGISTER NOW: CBA13 will bring together practitioners, grassroots representatives, local and national government planners, policymakers and donors working at all levels and scales to discuss how we can drive ambition for a climate resilient future. CBA13 is organised in partnership by IIED, CARE, Climate Justice Resilience Fund, Global Resilience Partnership, IDRC / CRDI, Irish Aid, Practical Action, and Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. For more information and to register visit here.
University of Westminster
Westminster Development Studies Symposium
17th May 2019
“Globalisation: between achievements and the road to isolation”, University of Westminster, London
Call for papers for the Symposium organised by the Westminster Development Policy Network. The event will provide a forum to explore the issues, challenges and responses to conflicting trends of greater interconnection and isolation, which are shaping the world economy. The aim of this forum is to bring together scholars from all fields related to development studies focusing on drivers and consequences of globalization or isolation.
Global Development Institute (GDI)
Effective States and Inclusive Development
9-11 September 2019
From Politics to Power? Rethinking the politics of development
Call for papers for the flagship conference convened by the Effective States and Inclusive Development research centre at the University of Manchester. The topic is From Politics to Power? Rethinking the politics of development and will take place 9-11 September 2019.
BOND
Bond Annual Conference, 18-19 March, London
The Bond Annual Conference attracts over 1,000 diverse people from across the international development and humanitarian sectors. NGOs, civil society leaders, researchers, funders, government and private sector come together to debate crucial current issues, share ideas and interrogate emerging trends. Our conference comes at a crucial time as civil society faces an increasingly complicated political environment and growing funding pressures. DSA members receive a 15% discount. Use code: Marnp15
Courses
IGHD, Queen Margaret University
Online course - Psychosocial Interventions for Displaced Populations
25 Feb – 05 Apr 2019
Applications now open
Join the Institute for Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in their popular online course ‘Psychosocial Interventions for Displaced Populations’. This course reviews recent developments in the field of psychosocial programming in humanitarian contexts and examines the evidence-base for effective, quality programming. It is suitable for professional development both for those wishing to explore this rapidly developing area of humanitarian response and for those with significant experience in the field who wish to consolidate their understanding of effective practice. For more information, email ighd(at)qmu.ac.uk and view the details here.
University of Derby
Joint Honours Degree in Global Development
The Joint Honours Degree in Global Development at the University of Derby adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to understand the contemporary challenges associated with development studies. It emphasizes a critical understanding of development issues from a local to global scale. The degree equips you with an appropriate set of specialist, intellectual and personal transferable skills of lifelong value that are required by graduate employers. Fieldtrips are key to the course. The focus placed on practical experience and vocational placements provides you with opportunities to gain valuable real world experience. For more information about our course, please visit here.
Indian Social Policy Network
Early Career Academic Winter School on Social Policy in Developing Context
Venue: Jindal Global Educational and Professional
Academy, NTH Complex, A2 Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg,
Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi , India
Dates: To be confirmed.
School of International Development, University of East Anglia
Impact Evaluation for Evidence - Based Policy in Development
13-24 May 2019
Climate Change and International Development
3-7 June 2019
Water Security for Policy Makers and Practitioners
24-28 June 2019
A full list of these and other short courses can be found here.
DPP, The Open University
New free course: Understanding Antibiotic Resistance
This is a new course coming soon from The Open University’s OpenLearn team and will introduce participants to the science behind the problem of antibiotic resistance. Read more…
IDS, Sussex
IDS Teaching
In partnership with the University of Sussex, IDS is ranked first in the world for development studies by the QS University Rankings. We offer a wide range of postgraduate degrees and professional development courses on critical development issues.
Our courses
• MSc Climate Change, Development and Policy
• MA Development Studies
• MA Food and Development
• MA Globalisation, Business and Development
• MA Governance, Development and Public Policy
• MA Power, Participation and Social Change
• MA Poverty and Development
Details here.
IDS Training Courses
Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation for Learning
2 to 6 September 2019
Transforming Nutrition: Ideas, Policies and Outcomes
15 to 19 July 2019
Digital and Technology for International Development
8 to 12 July 2019
Social Protection: Policies, Programmes and Evidence
1 to 4 July 2019
Applying Circular Economy Approaches for a Sustainable Future
3 to 6 June 2019
More information on the IDS website.
Brighton & Sussex Medical School
Global Health Msc/PGDip/PGCert
Our Global Health will help you understand the complex determinants of health and ill-health in a globalised world and their potential solutions in order to help you contribute to the improvement of health and the achievement of health equity and social justice worldwide. Graduates from this course will have the skills to work as global health practitioners, policy makers, consultants or researchers within NGOs, governments and international health and development agencies.
For more information visit the website.
Meetings & Seminars
DPP, The Open University
Celebrating Sixteen Years of Innogen Research in Innovation and Development: Looking Backward and Looking Forward
28 February, 14:00-17:00, Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
The event will bring together colleagues from academia, policy, politics and practice to celebrate Innogen’s achievements but also to discuss the implementation challenges of the UK’s new industrial strategy in the post-Brexit era. To register, email FASS-PPEDG-Support(at)open.ac.uk, FAO Sheila Hobbs.
DSA 2019: Opening Up Development
19-21 June, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
The DSA's annual conference in 2019 will take place at The Open University's Milton Keynes Campus. Early bird registration will open 28 February. Read more…
Global Development Institute (GDI)
The first GDI lecture series began on Weds 30th January with Dr Moira Faul and Tchilingirian discussing what social network analysis can tell us about multi-stakeholder partnerships.
On 20 February we will host Prof Kate Brickell as part of the GDI Lecture Series, talking about: Blood Bricks: Untold Stories of Modern Slavery and Climate Change from Cambodia.
Edward Ademolu will be part of a team delivering a session on “breaking stereotypes to tell authentic stories” at the BOND NGO conference in London in March.
Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID)
11th February 2019
#SIIDfilms: Magic Medicine
The first in the Global Health Film Series 2019 asks the question: can magic mushrooms cure depression?
13th February 2019
Institute of Historical Research at Sheffield
Workshop and networking event for early career researchers, and evening roundtable on Establishing Peace.
14th February 2019
#SIIDFilms: Fire in the Blood
Documentary in the Global Health film series telling an intricate tale of medicine, monopoly and malice.
19th February 2019
#SIIDFilms: Ama
Film shedding light on the sterilization abuses of Native American women through the past 60 years.
26th February
#SIIDFilms: Brasilia - Life After Design
Documentary hosted by the SIID Cities Research Group, that takes us to a city rarely seen by the international viewer, exploring what it is really like to live in someone else's idea.
SIID 10th Annual Postgraduate Conference 2019: "Decolonising Development? Challenges, Innovations and Practices".
15th-16th May 2019.
View details here. Submit an abstract by 11 February 2019.
School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS
Seminar Series, Term 2, 2018-19
Tuesdays, 5-7PM
Room: Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT), SOAS Main Building
All welcome, no need to book
* 19 February *
Professor Étienne Balibar (University of Paris-Nanterre and Kingston University)
Exiles in the 21st Century: The New ‘Population Law’ of Absolute Capitalism
* 26 February *
Dr Marcus Taylor (Queen’s University, Canada)
Climate Change and the ‘New Green Revolution’ in India
* 5 March *
Professor Sylvia Walby (City, University of London)
Towards Zero Violence: Putting Gender into a Theory of Violence and Society
Development & Planning Unit (DPU), University College London
DPU Breakfast
DPU Breakfast
Pascale Hoffmann - Trajectories of urban water poverty in Dar es Salaam
8:45 am to 9:45 am, 28 February 2019
DPU@Senate House, 403 Senate House Malet St.
Dept. of International Development, London School of Economics
Financializing Poverty: labor and risk in Indian microfinance
Thursday 28 February, 2019 | 6.30pm – 8pm
Venue: Staff common room, 5th floor, Old Building, LSE (map)
Speaker: Dr Sohini Kar
Chair: Professor Deborah James
Celebrating the release of Sohini Kar’s book Financialising Poverty: Labor and Risk in Indian Microfinance from Stanford University Press. The event will feature comments by the author, with comments from Deborah James from LSE's Department of Anthropology. The discussion will be followed by a reception.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket or pre-registration required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.
Find out more about the event.
Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking and Practice
Every Friday from 18 January - 22 March, 2019 (excluding Friday 22 February) | 4pm – 6pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, NAB
Speakers: Erinch Sahan, Claire Hutchings, Danny Sriskandarajah, Stephan Haggard, Barbara Harriss-White, Kevin Watkins, Laura Kelly, Ben Jones, Rafeef Ziadah
The visiting lecture series, hosted by the Department of International Development, introduces postgraduate students to pressing issues in the field of International Development and engages them in discourses that affect decision making in the professional world.
#LSECuttingEdge19
Open to LSE Students and Faculty. Other external guests should visit here to reserve a seat.
Job vacancies & Funding opportunities
Centre for International Development, Northumbria University
The Centre for International Development at Northumbria University in the UK is seeking applications for two new posts:
- Professor of International Development
- Associate Professor of International Development
The Centre is expanding rapidly through University investment and external funding, and brings together academics from human geography, politics and international relations, sociology, history, design and psychology. We welcome applications from candidates from across the social sciences who are interested in helping to lead and further develop the Centre’s research, teaching and impact. See more details here. Closing date: 6 March 2019.
Development Planning Unit, UCL
Lecturer in Economics and Public Policy
Communications Officer: Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality.
Global Development Institute (GDI)
GDI are looking for an early career researcher specialising in anti-poverty transfers to join us on a Presidential Academic Fellowship. Closes: 26/02/2019.
International Development Department, University of Birmingham
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
The International Development Department (IDD) is looking to appoint a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, with training and experience in an area relevant to the teaching and research of the department. More information can be found here. Contact Professor Fiona Nunan, f.s.nunan(at)bham.ac.uk, if you have specific questions. Deadline is 14th February.
Teaching-focused lecturer
The International Development Department (IDD) is looking to appoint a Teaching-focused Lecturer with training and experience in an area relevant to the teaching and research of the department, and an ability to teach development theory and practice. More information can be found here. Contact Fiona Nunan, f.s.nunan(at)bham.ac.uk, if you have specific questions. Deadline is 14th February.
Global Development Institute (GDI)
Fellowships
There is also funding for seven postdoc fellowships also through the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership. These are open to those who are within 12 months of completing their PhD. Deadline: 22 March 2019.
Margaret Anstee Research Fellowship 2019-23
Applications are invited from outstanding women graduates whose doctoral degrees are complete or very near completion, for a Stipendiary Research Fellowship (“Margaret Anstee Fellowship”) in subjects related to economic and social development and/or international relations.
See all the details here and apply via the website here. Deadline: 15 February 2019
Independent Social Research Foundation
ISRF Early Career Fellowship Competition (ECF5)
Launch: 7th January 2019
Deadline: 15th February 2019
The Independent Social Research Foundation wishes to support independent-minded researchers to explore and present original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.
The Foundation intends to make a small number of awards to support original interdisciplinary research, across the range of the social sciences, to be held from a start date no later than the end of December 2020. Scholars from within Europe are eligible to apply.
See here for all the details.
ISRF Political Economy Fellowship Competition (PERF3)
Launch: 7th January 2019
Deadline: 15th February 2019
The Independent Social Research Foundation wishes to support independent-minded researchers working in Political Economy, which the ISRF here extends to include the social scientific study of economies across the whole range of the social sciences. The work would be conceptually innovative, interdisciplinary, and unlikely to be funded by existing funding bodies.
The Foundation intends to make a small number of awards to support independent-minded researchers working in Political Economy - which the ISRF here extends to include the social scientific study of economies across the whole range of the social sciences - to be held from a start date no later than the end of December 2020. Scholars from within Europe are eligible to apply. See here for all the details.
Other news
ESRC
Pre-call announcement: NORFACE: Democratic governance in a turbulent age
NORFACE will be announcing a new transnational research programme on democratic governance in December. The main focus of this research programme will be on understanding the precise nature of the recent turbulence in democratic politics and governance in Europe, how European states can negotiate it and how they can develop strategies to enhance the quality of democratic politics and governance. Read more… Deadline for proposals: 19 February 2019.
Publications
Global Development Institute (GDI)
Tanja Müller: Assertive foreign policy in a ‘bad neighbourhood’: Eritrean foreign policy making, International Conference on Eritrean Studies, 20-22 July 2016, Proceedings.
Chrisde Bonta, Hans C.Komakech, Gert JanVeldwisch: Neither modern nor traditional: Farmer-led irrigation development in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania
Louise Curran Khalid Nadvi Liam Campling: The influence of tariff regimes on global production networks (GPNs)
Oxford Department of International Development (ODID)
Obiageri Bridget Azubuike and Angela W Little (2019) ‘Learning Motivations, Learning Outcomes and Gender in Vietnam’, Young Lives Working Paper No 181
Simukai Chigudu (2019) 'The politics of cholera, crisis and citizenship in urban Zimbabwe: "People were dying like flies"', African Affairs
Cathryn Costello (2019) 'Refugees and (Other) Migrants: Will the Global Compacts Ensure Safe Flight and Onward Mobility for Refugees?', International Journal of Refugee Law
Ilan Manor (2019) The Digitalization of Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan
Angela Remus (2019) ‘Seeking informal asylum: The case of Central Americans in the United States’, RSC Working Paper No 127
Adrian Wood (2019) ‘China: Long-Term Development Issues and Options, Past and Present’, TMCD Working Paper No 79
Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London
Post-Disaster Camps in Ecuador: Between Emergency Measures and Political Objectives
By Camillo Boano, Ricardo Martén and Andrea Sierra
In Camps Revisited: Multifaceted Spatialities of a Modern Political Technology
Grounded development: Reflections on community-based practices in Sri Lanka and Myanmar
Blog
Treat, contain, repeat: key links between water supply, sanitation and urban health
By Pascale Hofmann
The Better to Break and Bleed with: On Research, Violence, and Trauma
By Ariana Markowitz
The knot at the end of the rope: Violence, hope, and transformation in El Salvador and Mexico
By Ariana Markowitz
Gaza: Cage Politics, Violence and Health
By Haim Yacobi
Health in secondary urban centres: Insights from Karonga, Malawi
By Donald Brown
Digital Media
Podcast
State-building in Somalia: federalism, security and development
HOME Self-Sustainable Amazonian Cities: settlement relocation at the crossroads
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Jude Howell and Tim Pringle; Shades of Authoritarianism and State–Labour Relations in China, British Journal of Industrial Relations (2018).
Tiziana Leone; Women’s mid-life health in Low and Middle Income Countries: A comparative analysis of the timing and speed of health deterioration in six countries, SSM - Population Health (2018).
Samantha R. Lattof, Philomena Nyarko, Ernestina Coast, Tiziana Leon; Contemporary female migration in Ghana: Analyses of the 2000 and 2010 Censuses, Demographic Research (2018).
Emily Freeman and Ernestina Coast; Conscientious objection to abortion: Zambian healthcare practitioners' beliefs and practices, Social Science & Medicine (2018), pp. 106-114.
Jean-Paul Faguet; Latin America’s Shifting Politics: The Lessons of Bolivia, Journal of Democracy (2018).
WORKING PAPER
Naila Kabeer, Lopita Haq and Munshi Sulaiman; Multi–stakeholder initiatives in Bangladesh after Rana Plaza: global norms and workers’ perspectives, LSE ID Working Paper Series (2019)
ID BLOG
Don’t forget to check out recent articles from LSE staff, students, alumni and friends of the department on the ID blog.
School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS
Cheru, F., Cramer, C. and Oqubay, A. (eds.) (2019) The Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy. Oxford University Press.
Mezzadri, A. and Majumder, S., The ‘Afterlife’ of Cheap Labour: Bangalore Garment Workers from Factories to the Informal Economy, Working Paper No: 12.18.1
McQuinn M. 2018) 'Strengths and Weaknesses of African Trade Unions in the Neoliberal Period with a Sierra Leone Case Study' in Journal Africana Studia No. 28: Trade Unions and Labour in Africa. This is a special edition of the Journal Africana Studia on trade unions and labour in Africa. The special edition is part of an ongoing funded project on increasing the effectiveness of African trade unions, focusing on building a database of information about labour issues, as well as strategies and policies to be shared by labour organisations continent wide.
Novak, P. (2019) The Neoliberal Location of Asylum, Political Geography (70), pp. 1-13
Vergara-Camus, L and Kay, C. (eds.) (2018) La Cuestion agraria y los gobiernos de izquierda en América Latina. Campesinos, agronegocio y neodesarrollismo. CLACSO. Available free online (in Spanish) here.
Yalman, Galip and Marois, Thomas and Güngen, Ali Riza, (eds.), (2018) The Political Economy of Financial Transformation in Turkey. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. (Europa Emerging Economies).
A new issue of Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy has been published. Vitor Schincariol, Visiting Scholar at SOAS, is one of the Associate Editors.
King’s College London
Robyn Klingler-Vidra has a forthcoming article on state promotion of entrepreneurship: “Legitimate Social Purpose and South Korea’s support for entrepreneurial finance since the Asian Financial Crisis”. The core argument is that legitimate social purpose has propelled the Post-Asian financial crisis South Korean policy-makers to strive to diversify the sources of economic activity and job creation away from chaebols while simultaneously embedding the chaebol in the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. The legitimate social purpose of promoting entrepreneurial finance has input legitimacy via fit with employment and diversification aims and output legitimacy gleaned from the perceived positive performance of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Ed Gómez has just published “Reforming International Health Agencies: Proposing an Interdisciplinary Approach through the Integration of Institutional Change, Network Analysis, and Power Theory", in Global Health Governance. This article proposes a new theoretical approach integrating political science institutional and sociological power theory to account for variation in international health agency adaptation to domestic healthcare needs.
Paul Segal wrote a blog on why inequality represents a wasted opportunity for poverty reduction at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. He argues that those who dismiss inequality as a problem secondary to poverty miss the point: inequality is part of what drives poverty.
Richard Itaman co-wrote a blog post with Erik Reinert, titled "Africa: Time to Rediscover the Economics of Population Density and Development" for the OECD series, Development in Transition. They argue that it is necessary to rediscover the theoretical understanding between a nation’s economic structure and its population carrying capacity in the mutual interest of Africa and Europe.
Jelke Boesten co-edited a Special Issue of the journal Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, together with Marsha Henry.
Jelke wrote the introduction to the issue of "Revisits methods and approaches in conflict-related sexual violence research", and offers six articles written by established scholars debating how methodological choices affect what we can know about wartime sexual violence, and how this knowledge might influence policy making.
Boesten and Henry also wrote an article for the Special Issue called "Between Fatigue and Silence: The Challenges of Conducting Research on Sexual Violence in Conflict."
Andy Sumner has a new paper: a profile of global multidimensional poverty, published by the Centre for Global Development in Washington DC. A summary is on Duncan Green’s blog.
Peter Kingstone and Luiz Felipe Kling published the chapter, "The Difficult Balance between Macro and Micro: Inflation, Exchange Rates, and Industrial Developments" in the Routledge Handbook of Brazilian Politics edited by Barry Ames.
IDS, University of Sussex
Youth Employment and the Private Sector in Africa
IDS Bulletin 49.5
Edited by Seife Ayele, Marjoke Oosterom and Dominic Glover
The Millennium Villages: Lessons on Evaluating Integrated Rural Development
IDS Bulletin 49.4
Edited by: Chris Barnett
Contribution Analysis and Estimating the Size of Effects: Can we reconcile the Possible with the Impossible
CDI Practice paper
Giel Ton
How Should Uganda’s National Youth Policy Be Redesigned?
IDS Policy Briefing 161
Rita Makumbi
Assessing the Strength of Different Violence Monitoring Systems in Crises
IDS Policy Briefing 160
Caitriona Dowd
Agribusiness, Sustainable Jobs, and Youth Unemployment: Lessons from Ghana
IDS Policy Briefing;159
Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey
Comparing ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Media for Violence Monitoring and Crisis Response in Kenya
IDS Working Paper 520
Caitriona Dowd
Pia Jolliffe – DSA Member
New co-edited book
(2018) Southeast Asian education in modern history. Schools, manipulation, and contest.
London: Routledge
Boydell & Bower
Boydell & Bower offer Development Studies Association members a 25% discount on all African Studies titles that we publish. The code to use is: BB700.
Practical Action Publishing
Voices of Latin America launch!

The launch of this powerful book brought to life the inspiring stories of the fight for human rights & social justice in the region. Watch a video of the readings, and see photos here.
Learn more about the book here (and get your copy!)
Discover more new books about Latin America here
Just published!

French translation of Innovations for Urban Sanitation
This edition will enable French-speaking communities to access the knowledge that will bring about sustainable change –to adapt the community mobilization techniques of CLTS to urban areas.
Get your copy of this edition here
The PDF format of the book will be available soon Open Access on Development Bookshelf, our specialist site for online editions of books and journals. Watch this space!
20% off Oxfam, INTRAC and WEDC books!
Knowledge should be in the hands of the changemakers, not of the publishers.
Practical Action Publishing works with key publishing partners including Oxfam, INTRAC, WEDC, Sphere, the Latin America Bureau, and IRDC to ensure that key titles are easily accessible, and distributed throughout the world.
Take a look at our recommended books from these publishers and get your discount here
Look out for more exciting releases, and new additions to our bookshop collection in the coming weeks! In the meantime, take a look at what’s new on developmentbookshop.com
Practical Action Publishing Knowledge eLibraries
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subscription purchase or perpetual sale. Read
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a FREE institutional trial
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Oxford University Press (OUP)

DSA-OUP series (new in paperback):
Taken For A Ride: Grounding Neoliberalism, Precarious Labour, and Public Transport in an African Metropolis,
by Matteo Rizzo
Publishing in February
The Oxford Handbook of Structural Transformation
edited by Célestin Monga and Justin Yifu Lin
Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business
by Anja Shortland
Foundations of Migration Economics
by George J. Borjas, Barry R. Chiswick, and Benjamin Elsner
Immiserizing Growth: When Growth Fails the Poor
edited by Paul Shaffer, Ravi Kanbur, and Richard Sandbrook
Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone
by Jean Drèze
Forging a British World of Trade: Culture, Ethnicity, and
Market in the Empire-Commonwealth, 1880-1975
by David Thackeray






Routledge & DSA affiliate program
Need Development Studies textbooks for the new year? Browse Routledge’s collection here. You’ll also find all of our latest titles here, and get your 20% DSA discount at checkout by entering code AF039!
Meanwhile, several exciting brand-new publications for you to check out this month, including the perfect textbook for a course on politics and development, and Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh & Patricia Daley’s ground-breaking handbook on South-South Relations:
POLITICS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
BY DAMIEN KINGSBURY
*Follow the link for a free inspection copy if you teach the subject!
Politics in Developing Countries provides a clear and reader-friendly introduction to the key factors and themes that shape political processes in developing countries. Drawing on a range of case studies from around the world, the book looks at the consistencies and variations between developing countries, examining why some have forestalled political change by liberalising their economies, and others have actively stifled calls for change. Wide-ranging and engagingly written, this introductory textbook is perfect for students of politics and international development, as well as for those with a general interest in the challenges faced by countries in the Global South.
REFUGEE GOVERNANCE, STATE AND POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
BY ZEYNEP ŞAHIN MENCÜTEK
"This original and meticulous study of comparative refugee governance is a welcome addition to scholarly work on refugee movement and state responses." — Dawn Chatty, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration, University of Oxford, UK
“Sahin Mencütek’s book will be the gold standard against which subsequent works on state refugee policy will be measured." — Laurie Brand, Professor of International Relations and Middle East Studies, University of Southern California, USA, and Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association
"Based on extensive field research covering Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan - three of the world's top refugee hosting countries - this book is a very timely work. I welcome this valuable piece to the field of Refugee Studies.”— Prof. Dr Ayhan Kaya, Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics of Interculturalism, Turkey
ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF SOUTH-SOUTH RELATIONS
EDITED BY ELENA FIDDIAN-QASMIYEH, PATRICIA DALEY
"Much has been written about the South, but very little has been written with the South and, even less, from the perspective of the South. This path-breaking book fills this gap. A must-read for everyone interested in knowing that one of the causes of our current global crisis stems from a massive waste of precious social experience forcefully emerging in this book." -- Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Professor of Sociology, University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Distinguished Legal Scholar, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
"Within the complex topographies of global power relations and the struggles for more just ways of life, this book restores vitality to the notion of many "Souths" through a comprehensive exploration of relations of all kinds—which in turn substantiate different ways of being in the world." -- AbdouMaliq Simone, Senior Professorial Fellow, Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, UK
"Only action from the global South will change world inequalities; but how? This handbook explores South-South connections, from economic development to politics, education, art and science, refugees, environment, and more. It is a great resource for all concerned with global justice." -- Raewyn Connell, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney, Australia
REGIONAL COOPERATION FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT: JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
EDITED BY BRENDAN HOWE
Faced with significant security challenges, in recent years Japan and South Korea have both sought to raise their international profile through peacebuilding, development, humanitarian assistance, and human security. This book assesses the past, present, and future potential of these niche diplomacy initiatives undertaken by Japan and South Korea, largely in Southeast Asia. At a time when the role of so-called middle powers is receiving increasing levels of attention both domestically and internationally, this book will be of considerable interest to scholars of Japan and the ROK, as well as development, security, and foreign policy researchers more broadly.



