Annual Conference 2025/2026

DSAI Annual Conference

'Development in the Interregnum: Past, Present, and Future(s)'

Dates: 15th & 16th January 2026

Venue: Trinity College Dublin

Click Here to Register

International development is at an inflection point with the current conjuncture defined by a conflation of interacting destructive forces, disruptions, uncertainties, and opportunities for change.   Geopolitical tectonic plates are shifting with new actors and institutions now influencing the postwar development cooperation regime. Multilateralism and the liberal international order are crumbling while the rise of China and South-South development cooperation is influencing a profound shift in development thinking. This coincides with a renewed role for the state, state interventionism and the increasing influence of state capitalism in development cooperation. Political convulsions in some of the longest-standing democracies are birthing discourses that actively undermine fundamental democratic principles, commitments to global cooperation and universal values, instead seeing a rise of isolationism and withdrawal from international institutions. As the impacts of climate change unfold, a series of sharp intersecting inequalities fuelled by uneven and combined development continues to accelerate. These interacting, intersecting events and transformations hold profound implications for international development cooperation governance and practices. 
This conference examines how, why, and in what ways the contemporary conjuncture can be understood, and what possibilities and future pathways exist for development cooperation. It explores discursive framings, structural features, and agent-based possibilities and mechanisms embedded within the current order that could shift the focus from conflict, crisis, and competition, toward cooperation, consensus, and community.

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Thursday 15th January

09:15                          Registration

09:30 – 13:30           Transdisciplinary Collaboration for Impact with Máire Brophy Consulting

We will be hosting a Transdisciplinary Collaboration for Impact Initiative which will be delivered by Máire Brophy Consulting prior to the Opening Plenary of our Annual Conference. This half-day event brings together NGOs, researchers, and research funders to explore opportunities for impactful collaboration.  Proposed schedule includes:

  • Presentation on the current research funding landscape
  • Cocreation workshop, during which NGOs are invited to share their research needs and highlight emerging topics of interest
  • Breakout sessions featuring structured activities to support project and collaboration planning
  • Summary and synthesis of proposed ideas
  • Followed by presentations from research funders outlining upcoming opportunities.

14:00 – 15:30           Welcome Address & Conference Opening Plenary

                                    Moderator: Dr. Susan Murphy

                                    KEYNOTE ADDRESSES                                                                                                                                        

                                    Prof. Alfredo Saad Filo, Queen's University Belfast                                                                                         ‘Neoliberal Fascism’

                                    Prof. Owen Worth, University of Limerick                                                                                                        'Development in the Interregnum: Tragedy or Farce?'

                                    Facilitated Discussion

15:30 – 16:00           Tea/Coffee

16:00 – 17:30           Afternoon Parallel Sessions

1. Business & Development Study Group - Chair: Dr. David Nyaluke
2. Education Study Group - Chair: Prof. Gerard McCann
3. Geopolitics - Chair: Dr. Kelsey Rhude
4. Linking Development Studies with the Humanities - Chair: Dr. Susan Murphy
5. The Politics of Food Crises: Challenges and Opportunities - Chair: Abdulkadir Mohamed  / Heba Elsahn

17:30 – 18:00           Meet the Authors

                                   Padraig Carmody

                                   Sinead Walsh

The Atrium, Dining Hall

18:00 – 19:00           Wine Reception 

Friday 16th January

09:15                        Arrival & Welcome
09:30 – 10:30        KEYNOTE ADDRESS                                                                                                                                                

                                 Moderator: Dr. Sheila Long

                                 Assoc. Prof Divine Fuh, University of Cape Town 

‘Prosecuting Development: Towards a Decolonial Imperative for Transformative Global Cohabitation’

                                 Facilitated Discussion
 

10:30 – 11:00       Tea/Coffee & Refreshments

                                 & Poster Presentations

11:00 – 12:30           Morning Parallel Sessions

6. Climate 1 Study Group - Chairs: Judith Randel and Tony German
7. Gender Study Group - Chair: Dr. Nita Mishra 
8. Reimagining Development - Chair: Dr. Eilish Dillon
9. Civilian Targeting - Chair: Dr. Maksym Skrypnyk / Dr. Caitriona Dowd
10. Contested Futures of Agriculture: Gender, Digital Technologies and Inequality - Chair: Dr. Tara Bedi

12:30 – 13:15           Lunch & Tea/Coffee

13:15 – 14:00           Annual General Meeting (AGM)

14:00 – 15:30           Afternoon Parallel Sessions

11. Civil Society Study Group - Chair: Dr. Sheila Long
12. Climate 2 Study Group - Chairs: Judith Randel and Tony German
13. Humanitarian Study Group - Chair: Dr. Kelsey Rhude
14. ICT4D Study Group - Chairs: Dr. PJ Wall and Dr. Elizabeth Resor
15. New and Emerging Directions for Gender Based Violence: Methods, Findings and Applications - Chairs: Dr. Carol Ballantine and Dr. Tara Bedi
16. Disassembling and Reassembling Development: Tracing the Reconfiguration of Governance and Practice in the Current Conjuncture - Chair: Dr. Susan Murphy / Maeve McGandy

15:30 – 15:45           Tea/Coffee

15:45 – 16:30             KEYNOTE ADDRESS                                                                                                                                           

                                      Moderator: Dr. Nita Mishra

                                      Prof. Su-ming Khoo, University of Galway 

‘Reframing the Anthropocene Educationally - from SDG4 to Human Capabilities to Share the Planet’

                                       Facilitated Discussion

16:30 – 17:30              Closing Plenary / Reflections

17:30                             Conference Close

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

 

alfredo-saad-filho-3b-min (1)Prof. Alfredo Saad Filho, School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen's University Belfast. Alfredo Saad Filho is Professor of International Political Economy at Queen’s University Belfast, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Visiting Professor at LUT University (Finland), Visiting Professor at Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ (Italy), Senior Associate Researcher at the University of Brasília (Brazil) and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London (UK). He was Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in Geneva. He has taught in universities and research institutions in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mozambique, South Africa, Switzerland and the UK. His publications include 18 books, 80 journal articles, 60 book chapters, and 30 reports for UN and other international agencies. His most recent books include The Age of Crisis: Neoliberalism, the Collapse of Democracy, and the Pandemic (London: PalgraveMacmillan, 2022) and Progressive Policies for Economic Development: Economic Diversification and Social Inclusion after Climate Change (London: Routledge, 2022).

 

Dr Divine Fuh-552Assoc. Prof. Divine Fuh, Director of the Institute for Humanities Africa (HUMA) at the University of Cape Town where he is also HOD for and associate professor of social anthropology. His research focuses on the politics of suffering and smiling, particularly on how people seek ways of smiling in the midst of their suffering. He is currently interested in the life of ideas, the political economy of African knowledge production, and centring African epistemologies. He has done work in Cameroon, Botswana, Senegal and South Africa. 

 

3629 - 1600pxProf. Su-ming Khoo, Sociology at the School of Political Science and Sociology, and Chair of the Socio-Economic Impact Research Cluster at the Ryan Institute, at the University of Galway, Ireland. She is Joint Editor-in-Chief (with Sophie Woodward & Harriet Shortt) of the Journal of Creative Research Methods and Visiting Professor (2022-2027) in Critical Studies in Higher Education and Transformation (CriSHET) at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. 

 

IMG_3037Prof. Owen Worth, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick. He works, teaches and publishes in the wide areas of International Political Economy, Global Politics and has published on class, hegemony, resistance, political movement from both the right and left and on International Relations (IR) and Development theory. He is course leader for the long running MA International Studies and teaches the Graduate Seminar in IR for post-graduate students within the department as well as a number of interchangeable IR/IPE/Politics undergraduate and postgraduate modules. He is the author of 4 books, a co-editor of a number of collections and has published in several journals throughout his career. He has also been a visiting academic at a number of universities across Europe and North America and has sat and continues to sit on the board of a number of networks and academic committees. He is the Managing Editor of the long-standing journal Capital & Class, which is published by Sage.

 

THURSDAY, 15th

16:00 – 17:30    AFTERNOON PARALLEL PANELS x 5

  1. Business & Development Study Group:                                           

Chair: Dr. David Nyaluke (University College Cork; DSAI Business & Development Study Group)

  • ‘Domestic Politics, States and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Insights from Indonesia’

Prof. Andrew Rosser, Professor of Southeast Asian Studies and Director, Asia Institute | Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne

  • ‘The Effectiveness of Corporate Geoeconomic Tools: An Analysis of the Interaction Among Government, Enterprise, and Target State’

Yujie Zhao, PhD student, Department of Geography, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘The Effectiveness of Foreign Aid: Reforms or Resources?’

Marina Mikitchuk, Research fellow at the Central Economic Mathematical Institute of the RAS

  1. Education Study Group:                                           

Chair: Prof. Gerard McCann (St. Mary's University College Belfast; DSAI Education Study Group) 

  • ‘Unlearning Development Research Practices: Researching Better with the Subalterns’

Dr. Owasim Akram, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Political Science, Örebro University, Sweden

  • ‘Climate Change Education for a More Sustainable, Just and Gender Equal World’

Deirdre Murray, Plan International – Co-authors: Yona Nestel, Milena D’Atri, technical support from Barbara Scettri, Stu Solomon, Plan International

  • ‘The Multisystemic Factors that Enable Resilience to Extreme Weather Events Among Academy-Attending Mauritian Adolescents’

Shannon Wakefield, PhD candidate, University of Pretoria; Educational Psychologist

  1. Geopolitics:                                                                       

Chair: Dr. Kelsey Rhude (University of Limerick)

  • ‘Emerging Geographies of a New Cold War in Africa’

Prof. Pádraig Carmody, Lectures in Geography at TCD and Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg.

  • ‘Political Leadership, Chinese Capital, Developmental Peace: The Case of Ethiopian Post-Conflict Peacebuilding’

Xueke Chen, PhD candidate, Africa Leadership Centre, King’s College London.

  • ‘Development and the Second Cold War’

Dr. Jack Taggart, Queen’s University Belfast

  1. Linking Development Studies with the Humanities                                    

Chair: Dr. Susan Murphy (Trinity College Dublin; DSAI Chair)

  • ‘What can the Humanities offer Development Studies?’

Prof. David Lewis, London School of Economics & Political Science

  • Title: TBC

Charlotte Brown, PhD student, London School of Economics & Political Science

  • ‘Unusual Sources of Qualitative ‘Data’: Poetry’

Dr. Nita Mishra, Dept. of Politics & Public Administration, University of Limerick

  1. The Politics of Food Crises: Challenges and Opportunities                                    

Chair: Abdulkadir Mohamed (University College Dublin)

  • ‘“The UN is Now Your Husband”: Food Aid and the Remaking of Masculinities in South Sudan’

Dr. Caitriona Dowd, University College Dublin

  • ‘Whose Aid, Whose Rules? The Shifting Determinants of International Food Aid from the Gulf Donors’

Heba Elsah, PhD Researcher, University College Dublin

  • ‘Gender Dimensions of Food Weaponisation in Ukraine by Russia’

Dr. Maksym Skrypny, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Politics & International Relations, University College Dublin

FRIDAY, 16th

10:30 – 11:00     POSTER PRESENTATIONS

  • ‘One Size Fits All? Rethinking Traditional Project Management for Not-For Profit and Global Development Projects’

Ivan Baptista, University of the West of Scotland, London Campus

  • ‘People, Peat, and Power: Envisioning a Just Transition in the Blanket Bog Ecosystems of Ireland’

Jill Cass, M.Sc. Development Practice, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘United Nations Global Surgery Learning Hub (SURGhub): An Analysis of Usage Patterns’

Méabh Hennelly, Education Programme Officer, Institute of Global Surgery, RCSI, School of Population Health, Dublin

  • ‘In the Hope of One’s Own Home – Middlemen, Patronage, and the Politics of Welfare Delivery in India’

Moubani Maitra, PhD student, Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich

  • ‘Girls Empowerment through Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) in China’

Deirdre Murray, Plan International

  • ‘Cape Town Train Stories: Multimodal Discourses of (Im)Mobility and Place in a Social Media Archive, 2010-2022’

Dr. Marion Walton, Centre for Film & Media Studies, University of Cape Town

  • ‘An Evaluation of Contemporary Accounting Data and Sustainable Progress’

Orla Watson, Postgraduate research student and Assistant Lecturer, Dept. of Business and Financial Services, TUS Midwest

11:00 – 12:30     MORNING PARALLEL PANELS x 5

  1. Climate No.1 Study Group: TBC (1 presentation will move to Climate 2)

Chairs: Judith Randell & Tony German (Public Good; DSAI Climate & Development Study Group)

  • ‘Green Extraction, Old Exploitations? Critical Minerals and the Future of Africa’s Rural Communities’

Cecy Balogun, Centre for the Study of Race, Gender and Class, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

  • ‘Gender Mainstreaming and ESG in Renewable Energy: Rethinking Development Cooperation in the Green Transition’

Yingqi Katherine Wang, Master’s candidate, Development Practice, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘Reimagining Development through Indigenous Perspectives from the Global South: Cartography, Governance, and Alternative Futures in India’s Indigenous Regions’

Dr. Aashish Xaxa, IIT Gandhinagar

  • ‘Beyond Aid: Sustaining Locally-Led Climate Resilience Pathways in Southern Africa – The Case of Zimbabwe’

Brighton Musevenzo, Women’s University in Africa

  1. Gender Study Group:                                                          

Chair: Dr. Nita Mishra (University of Limerick; DSAI Gender Study Group)

  • ‘From Credit to Coercion: Financialisation, SHGs, and Local Politics in Rural India’

Genevieve England, Research Assistant and Doctoral Candidate, University of Zurich

  • ‘Digital Coloniality and Climate Adaptation: Epistemic Violence, Material Dispossession, and Vernacular Politics in Bihar's Agricultural Sector’

Dr. Vidya Sagar Pancholi, Senior Research Associate, Lancaster University

  • ‘Using the Comprehensive School Safety Framework to Address Climate Change and Girls' Education in Cameroon’s Far North Region’
  • Situ Shrestha, Plan International; MSc in Development Practice, Trinity College Dublin
  1. Reimagining Development:                                           

Chair: Dr. Eilish Dillon (Maynooth University; DSAI Steering Committee)

  • ‘The Revival of Dependency Theory’

Endriady Abidin, PhD candidate, Department of Politics & Public Administration, University of Limerick

  • ‘Ontological and Epistemological Drift in the Rules-Based Order: China, India and the Contestation of Global Governance’

Kofi Amegashie, Senior Lecturer & Course Lead, Business Management, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham

  • ‘Lessons from the Research Ireland Challenge Grant Program on Creating New Development Partnerships’

Eleanor Mancusi-Ungaro, Masters of Science in Energy Science

  • ‘Reclaiming Knowledge: Epistemological and Ontological Challenges to Western‑Centric Development Paradigms in African Contexts’

Lilian Njeri Mbuthi, Pan‑Africanist and Afro‑feminist researcher and practitioner based in Nairobi, Kenya. MA Political Science, Stanford University

  • ‘Development Brut – A New Concept to Understand and Appreciate Outsider Development’

Dr. Stephen Thompson, PhD MSc BSc PGCHE FHEA Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

  1. Civilian Targeting                                    

Chair: Dr. Maksym Skrypnyk (University College Dublin)

  • ‘The Targeting of Refugees and Contested Understandings of Humanitarian Protection: The Case of Salvadoran Refugees’ Campaign against Forced Relocation in 1980s Honduras’

Dr. Maria Cullen, School of History, University College Dublin

  • ‘Understanding Connections between Modalities of Violence against Civilians in Civil Conflict: The Role of Competition between Armed Groups in South Sudan’

Angela Garvey, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University

  • ‘Humanitarian Exit, Civilian Targeting, and the Right to Health in Fragile Systems’

Dr. Molly Gilmour, Cardiff University

  • ‘Attacks on Healthcare, Humanitarian Archives, Oral History Methodology, Humanitarian History’

Dr. Courtney Stickland, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute University of Manchester

  1. Contested Futures of Agriculture: Gender, Digital Technologies and Inequality

Chair: Dr. Tara Bedi (Trinity College Dublin)

  • ‘Designing for Inclusion: Women Farmers’ Preferences for Digital Agriculture Technologies’

Dr. Tara Bedi, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘Land, Phones, and Power: Kinship and Women Farmers’ Access to Digital Agriculture in Malawi’

Lily Chavez, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘Gendered Constraints in Adaptive Capacity Development: A Case Study of Women Smallholder Farmers in Mchinji and Mzimba, Malawi’

Róisín O'Brien, Trinity College Dublin

14:00 – 15:30    AFTERNOON PARALLEL PANELS x 6

  1. Civil Society Study Group:                             

Chair: Dr. Sheila Long (South East Technological University; DSAI Steering Committee)

  • ‘Counter-Hegemony to Everyday Resistance: The Struggle of the Coastal Farmer Union (PPLP) Opposing the Sultanate Hegemony of Land in Yogyakarta Coastal Land, Indonesia’

Eka Zuni Lusi Astuti, PhD candidate, Dept. of Politics & Public Administration, University of Limerick

  • ‘The Interregnum as a Catalyst to Reimagining INGO/Supporter Relations’

Dr. Robert Bowden, Lead practitioner & Co-Director, Lifeworlds / Visiting Scholar at Northumbria University (Centre for Global Development)

  • ‘Between Resilience and Resistance: The Role of Civil Society Organisations Working for Peace in Contexts of Criminality. A methodological Framework to Analyse their Practices and Discourses’

David Morales Castano, PhD candidate, University of Liege

  • ‘State of Play: Autocratic States Research. How Local Civil Society is Responding to Repressive Regimes: Lessons from Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory’

Róisín Devale, Christian Aid & Christian Aid Ireland

  • ‘Politically Smart Advocacy Playbook’

Róisín Devale, Christian Aid & Christian Aid Ireland

  1. Climate No. 2 Study Group: TBC - 1 presentation to be added from C1

Chairs: Judith Randell & Tony German (Public Good; DSAI Climate & Development Study Group)

  • ‘Sustainable Solutions: A Study of Climate Adaptation in the Kutupalong Refugee Camp (Cox’s Bazar) in Bangladesh’

Jana Kaufmann, PhD Researcher and Teaching Assistant, Peach Studies Dept., Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘Evaluating the Effectiveness and Adaptability of Community-Based Renewable Energy Projects in Zambia: Lessons from International Models’

Maaz Khan, Masters in Energy Science, Trinity College Dublin;

Eleanor Mancusi-Ungaro, Master of Science in Energy Science

  1. Humanitarian Study Group:                                           

Chair: Dr. Kelsey Rhude  (University of Limerick)

  • ‘Bridging the Gap: Developing a Cost-Effectiveness Framework for Humanitarian Programme Design in GOAL’

Dr. Suleyman Alterkavi, University College Dublin

  • ‘The Role of Social Capital in Resilience in Urban Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts: Evidence from Haiti and Somalia’

Dr. Caitriona Dowd, University College Dublin

  1. ICT4D Study Group:                                           

Chairs: Dr. PJ Wall (Trinity College Dublin; DSAI ICT4D Study Group) & Dr. Elizabeth Resor (DSAI ICT4D Study Group)

  • ‘Framing Electronic Waste: A Decade of Irish Newspaper Coverage’

Dickson Boateng, Dublin City University

  • ‘Decentralising Development: Participatory Financing, Technology and Innovation Beyond the Donor Paradigm’

Jorge González Da Riba, early career researcher;

Nelli Amanda Piehl, transdisciplinary sustainability researcher from Finland

  • ‘African Agency and the Geopolitical Contest Over AI Governance’

Dr. Thompson Gyedu Kwarkye, School of Law, University of Galway

  • ‘Democracy 2.0 Meets Network Diplomacy: Practical Guardrails and a Civic Tech Field Guide Demo’

Paul Murphy, Founder of Vitalism Civic Innovation and an Advisor to the Civic Tech Field Guide

  • ‘Digital Global Solidarity Movement: Responses to Wars and Conflict in Sudan, Palestine and South Sudan’

Dr. Ibrahim Natil, DCU Conflict Institute. Research Fellow, Dublin City University. Visiting Lecturer, The University of Law, Business School

  1. New and Emerging Directions for Gender Based Violence: Methods, Findings and Applications

Chair: Dr. Carol Ballantine (University of Limerick) & Dr. Tara Bedi (Trinity College Dublin)

  • ‘Research Relationality: Developing Methods for Recruiting Participants to Highly Sensitive Research Interviews about GBV’

Dr. Carol Ballantine, University of Limerick

  • ‘Cash Plus Interventions and Intimate Partner Violence: A Mixed Method Investigation into the Channels of Change in Mauritania’

Dr. Tara Bedi, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘Alone or Aligned: The Role of Individual and Community Dimensions of Social Norms, Women's Employment and Divorce on Intimate Partner Violence in Mauritania’

Julien Giorgi, Consultant at the World Bank

  • ‘Testing Survivor-Centered Approaches to IPV Data Collection Survey Instrument’

Dr. Alejandra Ramos, Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin

  1. Disassembling and Reassembling Development: Tracing the Reconfiguration of Governance and Practice in the Current Conjuncture

Chair: Dr. Susan Murphy (Trinity College Dublin; DSAI Chair) & Maive McGindy (Trinity College Dublin)

  • ‘Navigating Global Aid Shifts: The Assemblage of NGOs and Climate Adaptation in Costa Rica’s Pacific Region’

Ivonne López Arce, MSc in Development Practice, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘South-South Hybrid Governance: Development and Energy Infrastructure in a Post-Aid Era’

M Towsif Hasan, University of Melbourne

  • ‘Unpacking Localisation: Assemblage Thinking and Methodological Reflection in Development Studies’

Maeve McGandy, researcher on the ERC-funded GEOFORMATIONS project, Trinity College Dublin

  • ‘Practices, Possibilities, and Pitfalls in the Pursuit of Just Development Governance: Exploring Assemblages of Transnational CSO Partnership Practices in Ukraine’

Dr. Susan Murphy, Assoc. Prof. in Development Practice at the School of Natural Sciences (Discipline of Geography), Trinity College Dublin, and Principal Investigator of GEOFORMATIONS, Trinity College Dublin; DSAI Chair

  • ‘Assemblages of Aid: Pilot Study Insights on the Intersection of State Influence and Civil Society Voice in Tanzanian Aid Effectiveness’

Ruby Paterson, PhD candidate on the GEOFORMATIONS project, Trinity College Dublin

 

 Note: We advise attendees to arrange accommodation early.

See below options with 10% discount

Travelodge Plus Dublin City Centre, 5 minutes from Trinity College, with 10% discount off best available rate using the dedicated booking link here: https://www.travelodge.ie/about-us/dsai-annual-conference

The Alex Hotel, The Green Hotel, The Davenport Hotel & The Mont Hotel, with 10% discount when book directly via their website: https://www.ocallaghancollection.com/ using promo code SPECIAL10BB