Towards New Rhythms of Development, Lisbon, 10-13 July 2023

24/06/2025

Post-Development from the Global South: Radical Alternatives or Ambivalent Engagements?

By Alba Castellsagué and Sally Matthews

Are communities in the Global South rejecting the idea of development in favour of radical alternatives rooted in Indigenous concepts and practices? Some commentators, such as the contributors to the book Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary, argue that they are. Our new edited book, Post-Development from the Global South: Radical Alternatives or Ambivalent Engagements, presents a more complicated picture. Based on case studies from across the Global South, we reveal the ambivalent picture that emerges when marginalised communities engage with the concept of development, and with alternatives to it. Bringing together case studies from Africa, South America, Asia and the Middle East, the book is rooted in careful engagement with specific communities grappling with development and its alternatives.

05/03/202429/04/2024

The Crisis of Development and Development Studies and Possibilities for Transformation

By Sebeka Richard Plaatjie

Development requires human persons to exist. On this basis it is reasonable to suggest that human life or the preservation thereof, is the foremost condition for development to declare and to recognize itself. Basic physiological needs for the survival of human beings such as food, water, clothing, and health care as suggested by Maslow must therefore be met. Beyond preservation of human life, which is also recognized by the United Nations, development merely functions an ideology, as proven aptly by standpoint theory. Standpoint theory postulates that human beings speak, read, and make sense of the world from the geo-political and body-political location of the subject who speaks.

12/12/202312/12/2023

The Normative Dimension of Transdisciplinary Cooperation

By Johanna Vogel, Francisco Porras, Michael P. Schlaile, Veronica Hector, Christina Plesner Volkdal, Zhiqi Xu / New Rhythms of Development blog series

In times of rising inequalities, geopolitical shifts, and complex crises, transdisciplinary cooperation is needed more than ever to support the path of just transformations.

Although most people would agree that any deep structural transformation should take place in a just and equitable manner, the idea of “justice“ in transformations is deeply normative and involves conflicting worldviews, contested pathways, and different interests. Transformation for its part means changing structures, changing cultures, and changing practices. A culture of transformation is, among others, also constituted by values, which are supposed to give meaning to action.

05/12/2023

Embrace or Reject? Decoding Indigenous Perspectives on Development Programmes

By Léna Prouchet / New Rhythms of Development blog series

Entrepreneurship has become one of the main strategies used by international organisations and NGOs to promote sustainable development in the Global South. This approach has been highly criticised and deemed unfit to address structural issues underlying poverty. Such criticism has also been rooted in case studies of indigenous and local communities rejecting “development” initiatives. This blog post, based on field work in the Peruvian Amazon, reveals a nuanced perspective on the relationship between local communities and “entrepreneurship for development” projects. It shows how locals leverage projects to access new resources that fulfil basic needs and achieve aspirations for a better lifestyle, while still giving importance to some aspects of their traditional lifestyle.

31/10/202331/10/2023

Towards Structural Changes for Building Responsible Academic Partnerships

By Roseanna Avento, Kelly Brito and Susanne von Itter / New Rhythms of Development blog series

We are time overdue for an examination of global development using different lenses and engaging more diverse voices. Institutions in global development must shift and broaden their horizons to recognise that global inequalities, exclusion and injustices also affect academic development work. In this spirit, EADI and the Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID) are involved in an ongoing dialogue and reflection process on the structural changes that are needed to enable a shift towards more responsible and equitable academic partnerships between the Global North and Global South.