2026 DSAA biennial conference – call for papers open!
Theme: Social (In)Justice and Development
Location: La Trobe University, Melbourne
Date: Week of 9-13 November 2026 (exact dates TBC)
We live in a time of contradictions, where abundance and inequality co-exist, a time when ongoing injustices become ever more glaring. Never before has there been a greater wealth of resources shared across a greater number of people. Many people across the world now have access to vast bodies of recorded human knowledge at the click of a finger and can travel vast distances at short notice, physically and virtually while many others remain constrained by poverty, limited connectivity, and restricted mobility.
We don’t just know of these contradictions, we feel them: a sense of precarity and deep-seated injustices pervade as we grapple with the continued impacts of patriarchy, capitalism and colonialism, all of which are compounded by an ever-threatening climate crisis. Our wealth, power and access to opportunities are unevenly distributed. Intersectionality has provided a contemporary lens to understanding questions of power and powerlessness, justice and injustice, yet able-bodied, middle-aged cis men still disproportionately hold positions of authority and influence. Meanwhile, the divide between so-called ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries and contexts continues to mirror and reproduce the colonial injustices of the past two centuries.
How do we ensure that development studies and practice truly challenge and redress rather than further entrench social injustices in their many and multifaceted manifestations? The Development Studies Association of Australia opens discussion on these issues through our 2026 conference, which focuses on the theme, Social (In)Justice and Development. We are currently seeking abstracts for panels and individual papers speaking to themes including, but not limited to:
- Aid and development worker wellbeing
- Australia’s role in the contemporary development landscape
- Colonialism, neocolonialism and decolonisation and development
- Creative approaches to community engagement in development work and research
- Cuts to aid and development funding from ‘traditional’ donors
- Doing development differently
- Extractive industries and development
- Intersectionality, gender, disability, social inclusion and forms of marginalisation
- Impacts of and responses to the climate crisis
- Impacts of technology, including Artificial Intelligence
- Indigenous rights and Indigenous-settler relations
- Localisation and locally led development
- Multilateral and private corporations
- Narratives and counter-narratives of genocide
- Peace, conflict and politics
- Power, systems and structures that promote or inhibit positive social change
- South-South cooperation
- Strengths-based approaches to development
- The role of ‘non-traditional’ donors and new forms of solidarity and (re)distribution
- The role of religion, identity, and politics
Paper abstracts should include the following details: Author(s); Paper title; 150-200 word abstract; 3-5 keywords.
Panel abstracts should include the following details: Chair; Panel title; Presenters; 150-200 word abstract; 3-5 keywords.
All submissions and queries should be forwarded to contact@developmentstudies.asn.au. Submissions should include in the subject line: ‘[Paper/panel] abstract submission – DSAA 2026 – [Your name].’
Deadlines:
- 30 April: submission of panel and paper abstracts
- 30 June: acceptance of panels and papers
2024 DSAA biennial conference
- Theme: Development Futures
- Keynote Speaker: Prof. Bina D’Costa
- Venue: University of Melbourne
- Date: 10-12 July 2024, HDR Research Day to be held on 10 July
Click here for more information on the 2024 conference coming soon.
2022 DSAA biennial conference (virtual)
- Theme: Un/Doing Development
- Keynote Speaker: Meghna Guhathakurta
- Date: 7-8 July 2022, HDR Research Day to be held on 6 July 2022
For the full conference program click here.
2020 Inaugural DSAA biennial conference
- Theme: Development Studies – Research, Debates & Trajectories
- Keynote speakers: Uma Kothari and Yvonne Te Ruki-Rangi-O-Tangaroa Underhill-Sem
- Venue: Deakin University’s city campus (Level 12, Tower 2, 727 Collins St, Melbourne – right near Southern Cross Station)
- Date: 6-7 February 2020