Development Studies – Debating Development Research

03/09/202403/09/2024

The Future of Development Studies – Further Discussions Needed

By Anisa Muzaffar and Sana Kainat Moyeen

The recent workshop “Unity in Diversity? Reflecting on the Future of Development Studies provided a fascinating platform for debates that brought to life the four broad schools of thought underpinning contemporary Development Studies. The four broad schools of thought referenced here are drawn from a paper by Andy Sumner in the European Journal of Development Research, with the diagram below visualising these respective schools. It was compelling to see how the discussions evolved within these four broad schools, revealing a rich tapestry of perspectives. Despite the diversity of opinions, the conversations underscored the critical importance of these debates in shaping the future of Development Studies discourse.

06/08/202407/08/2024

The Future of Development Studies: Unity in Diversity?

By Caroline Cornier

The idea of progress falls under what anthropologist Anna Tsing designates as ‘unity’, a ‘unified coordination of time’, a singular beat. The recent workshop “Unity in Diversity – The Future of Development Studies” raised questions whether the discipline should move on to study the world’s consonant ‘global challenges’ or rather continue focusing on the specific rhythms and trajectories of ‘late developers’.

30/04/2024

EADI at Fifty: Time for Looking Back and Understanding the Sea Change of World History

By Jürgen Wiemann

This year, 2024, global peace, prosperity and the environment are threatened by a cumulation of geopolitical crises, and we do not know yet whether this will lead to a final breakdown of international cooperation and more wars, or whether it will be possible to turn history around towards a brighter future. Looking back at the half century since EADI’s foundation in 1974 may help us to understand how we have arrived at this dramatic moment.

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.

26/09/2023

Common Challenges for All?

By Jörg Wiegratz, Pritish Behuria, Christina Laskaridis, Lebohang Liepollo Pheko, Ben Radley, and Sara Stevano

Traditionally, Development Studies has been centred around a demarcation between the global North (Europe and North America) and the global South (Asia, Africa, and Latin America). In recent years, there has been growing clamour to throw out this North-South framework – held as outdated – in favour of a new ‘global’ outlook. It sounds harmless enough, but in our recent open access article published in Development and Change, we map out our concerns.