Welcome to The DSAA monthly webinar series!
Development is a dynamic space, bringing together research and practice across a range of disciplines. Our webinar series explores this diversity, bringing a new speaker who shares their expertise on a critical theme of interest every month. Each session will explore diverse topics, from building a CV for the international development sector to conducting community-based research and decolonising research practices. Through these interactive webinars, we aim to support HDR and ECR students in expanding their networks, gaining real-world insights, and advancing their academic and professional journeys.
You can replay previous webinars from our YouTube Channel @DSA_Australia
UPCOMING WEBINAR
Rethinking Postcolonial Governance
Join our next DSAA webinar exploring how communities navigate overlapping systems of governance in postcolonial contexts, presented by Dr Deborah Cummins and moderated by Associate Professor Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes on Thursday 21st May at 2pm (AEST).
Within development theory and practice, state-based and customary systems of governance are often framed as oppositional. Yet for many communities, including those in Timor-Leste, the lived reality is one of navigation across both spheres.
Drawing on original theoretical work developed in by Dr Cummins in 2010, this webinar examines what this everyday navigation can teach us about the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and laws when applied in postcolonial settings. By paying closer attention to how communities move between these systems, the discussion considers how development thinking might move beyond top-down/bottom-up debates toward a more nuanced understanding of governance as an ongoing process of negotiation, rather than a fixed state of affairs.
Dr Deborah Cummins is the Founder and Executive Director of Bridging Peoples, and Industry Representative on the Executive Committee of the Development Studies Association of Australia. She holds a PhD in Postcolonial Local Governance (2010) from the University of New South Wales, and degrees in Law (Honours) and Arts (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. A specialist in community engagement and locally led development in complex postcolonial environments, she has worked with multilateral agencies and NGOs since 2005, and publishes widely on governance, political economy, and civic engagement.
A specialist in community engagement and ground-up research and development in complex postcolonial environments, she has worked since 2005 as a technical specialist, researcher, and trainer across multilateral agencies and international and local NGOs. Her work focuses on local governance, political economy, civic engagement, women’s political participation, access to justice, and community development, bringing together legal expertise and community-based approaches to support inclusive and effective governance networks.
Associate Professor Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes is Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University. Drawing from the histories, philosophies, and lived experiences of marginalised communities, his work contributes critical insights into addressing epistemic and racial injustices and reimagining more just futures. He researches African experience and Ethiopian traditions, and writes creatively on belonging and diasporic lives. His publications include Native Colonialism: Education and the Economy of Violence Against Traditions in Ethiopia (2017) and the co-edited Activating Cultural and Social Change: The Pedagogies of Human Rights (2022). His most recent book, Trials of Hope (2026), won the Hungerford Award.
Date: Thursday 21st May 2026
Time: 2-3pm AEST
For more information, you can check our website or subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DSA_Australia.
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This initiative aligns with the DSAA’s core objectives of engagement, research, and teaching, strongly emphasizing decolonizing research and connecting with Majority-World scholars.