Call for Abstracts, Posters & Workshop Proposals - DSAI Annual Conference 2027

Following the call for panel proposals, submissions are now invited for

abstracts, posters & workshop proposals for DSAI's Annual Conference 2027:

The Future of Development Studies — Strengthening Solidarity and Development Cooperation in an Era of Conflict and Crises

27^th & 28^th January 2027

Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland

For the full conference concept note, including the conference context, aims and key questions, please visit the DSAI Annual Conference 2027 page.

We welcome contributions from researchers across development studies and related disciplines, including international and global studies, political science, geography, sociology, anthropology, and other cognate social sciences. We also encourage submissions from practitioners and activist-led research in development debates, as well as transdisciplinary and collaborative research initiatives, and from early career researchers, postgraduate students, and colleagues from the Global South.

Invitation to Participants

The DSAI conference in 2027 will explore the many complex challenges facing development studies into the future. Drawing on contemporary research, the experience of development practitioners, researchers, policy makers and activists, it invites participants to critically reflect on what’s working well, what needs to be unlearned in development studies and how development studies can situate itself more meaningfully and effectively in the future. Inviting participants to critically reflect on understandings, framings and practices of development and solidarity, it will open space for debating development studies’ future roles in theorizing global challenges and responses, in research and policy and in critical and transformative pedagogies. Are our higher education institutions spaces which can support the kinds of meaningful and engaged development research, theory, and pedagogical practices which are needed to shape alternative futures? What forms of intersectionality, relationality and interdisciplinarity should drive development studies in the future?

We invite abstracts, posters and workshop proposals that interrogate the conference theme from diverse disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives. Contributions may engage with, but are not limited to, DSAI’s thematic study groups, or the following themes:

Geopolitical shifts and implications for development cooperation
The rise of new development actors and South-South cooperation
Climate change, ecological crises, and planetary futures
Inequality, race, and uneven development
The crisis of multilateralism and global governance
State capitalism, interventionism, and the reconfiguration of state roles
Rising authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, and development discourse
Epistemological and ontological challenges to Western-centric development paradigms
Futurisms, imaginaries, and alternative development trajectories

Submission Guidelines

Please submit all proposals electronically as a Microsoft Word document to admin@dsaireland.org with 'DSAI 2027 Conference Submission' in the subject line, no later than 12 noon (Irish Standard Time, IST) on Friday, 25 September 2026.

Abstract Submission Requirements:

Title of the proposed paper
An abstract of 250–300 words
Four to six keywords
If applicable, indicate whether the proposed paper aligns with one of the DSAI Thematic Study Groups and specify the relevant group
Full names, academic or professional titles, and institutional affiliations of all authors
Indicate the presenting author (if there are multiple authors)
Primary contact email address for all correspondence
A short biography of the presenting author (maximum 100 words)

Poster Submission Requirements:

Title of the poster
An abstract of 250–300 words
Four to six keywords
Full names, academic or professional titles, and institutional affiliations of all authors
Indicate the presenting author (if there are multiple authors)
Primary contact email address for all correspondence
A short biography of the presenting author (maximum 100 words)

Workshop Proposal Requirements:

Title of the workshop
An abstract of 400–500 words outlining the workshop theme, objectives, and its relevance to the conference
Four to six keywords
Full names, academic or professional titles, and institutional affiliations of all workshop organisers
Primary contact email address for all correspondence
A short biography of each workshop organiser (maximum 100 words)

*Please note: This is an in-person conference. However, in exceptional circumstances, international presenters may be permitted to present online. If you wish to present virtually, please indicate this in your submission.

Key Dates

Call Opens for Abstracts, Posters and Workshop Proposals: 15 July 2026
Registration Opens: July/August 2026
Submission Deadline: 12 noon (Irish Standard Time, IST), 25 September 2026
Notification of Acceptance: 19 October 2026. Please let us know if you require an earlier decision to support a visa application.
Conference Dates: 27–28 January 2027

Registration Fees

Category	Fee
Standard registration	€150
Funded PhD researchers and staff without access to institutional conference funding	€75
Self-funded PhD researchers who are not in full-time paid employment; unwaged or retired participants; and *online presenters	€30

Bursaries

A limited number of bursaries of up to €250 are available to support attendance at the conference.

Enquiries:

If you have any questions about the conference or the submission process, please email admin@dsaireland.org

Organising Committee

Dr Eilish Dillon, Assistant Professor, Centre for Global Development, Department of Anthropology, Maynooth University; DSAI Steering Committee member.
Dr Susan Murphy, Associate Professor in Development Practice, Trinity College Dublin; DSAI Chair.
Dr Sheila Long, Department of Humanities, South East Technological University; DSAI Secretary.
Miriam Ryan, DSAI Coordinator, Department of Politics & Public Administration, University of Limerick.