DSA conference hosted by ODID brings more than 600 development experts to Oxford
ODID was delighted to host the 2016 annual conference of the Development Studies Association (DSA) this month, an event that saw some 600 development academics and practitioners from all over the world gather in Oxford for three days of scholarly exchange around the theme of Politics in Development.
The conference, which took place 12-14 September at the historic Examination Schools in central Oxford, offered 118 sessions, 65 panels and 440 papers on a huge variety of topics, growing considerably in scale from initial plans thanks to an overwhelming response.
We were particularly delighted that of the 604 delegates who came to the conference, over 200 were from overseas, creating a truly international gathering. In all, the conference attracted delegates from 47 countries.
We were also pleased that large numbers of early career researchers, including students, were able to come; ODID, in line with its mission to help doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars to engage with their peers and present and publish their work, helped facilitate their attendance through 25 bursaries co-funded with the journal Oxford Development Studies.
The conference was opened by Charlotte Watts, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for International Development, and featured keynotes by Professor Tania Li of the University of Toronto and Professor James A Robinson of the University of Chicago.
Professor Li delivered the Development and Change Annual Lecture titled ‘After development: surplus population and the politics of entitlement’. Professor Robinson gave the inaugural Oxford Development Studies Lecture titled ‘Paths of State Building’.
Researchers and students from ODID itself presented 16 papers at the conference and convened or co-convened eight panels on:
- Virtual diasporas: how digital tools influence the politics of diasporas
- The politics of infrastructure development
- Reclaiming the political: reflections on the tactics and strategies of actors in the quest for just and sustainable food governance
- Politics of the poor
- Access to justice in fragile states: policies and assessment
- Searching for the everyday normal: continuities, discontinuities and transformation in crises
- Power, politics and development in Afghanistan
- General papers
The conference closed with a plenary session that explored the implications of Brexit for research in development.