what is research in development studies

What Is Development Studies

Development Studies is an interdisciplinary field of research and teaching that takes ‘development’ as its central concern. It addresses the processes of social, cultural, ecological, economic and political change, and also the people, organisations, practices, and knowledges that engage in these development-related processes.

Development Studies is a diverse field of study that takes ‘development’ as its central concern. ‘Development’ is a contested concept, which encompasses two broad sets of concerns.

The first concerns processes of social, cultural, ecological, economic and political change. Development in this sense can be a normative concept that implies progressive change, as well as a focus of critique, with attention to the uneven, contradictory and potentially negative consequences of development-related change.

The second set of concerns relates to the architecture focused on meeting certain goals, often based around improving the well-being of people and sustainable use of natural resources. This ‘architecture entails a diverse set of actors, including states, multilateral organisations, non-government organisations, multinational corporations, small-scale enterprises, community-based organisations, local volunteers and more. The study of intentional development can be oriented towards working with these groups and individuals to improve development practice, and/or efforts to reveal the unintended and potentially negative consequences of development.

Although these two sets of concerns can be studied separately, they are intimately connected and arguably should be studied together. Intentional development is part of broader processes of change; efforts to understand these processes in their historical and contemporary context are vital to improving development practice and revealing its consequences. All notions of development are relational global processes that occur in and between all countries and are influenced by, and have consequences at, local and individual scales .

The DSAA recognises that Development Studies is a heavily contested field, and we seek ways to progress the discipline by providing a space for ongoing and inclusive dialogue and debate about the complex nature of development – what it is, what diverse actors think it should be, and how to get there.

Characteristics of Development Studies

• Development Studies is oriented towards improving the tools, practices and policies of development in a normative and intentional sense, as well as towards critique of these tools, practices, policies and of the broader processes of change. Development Studies also entails critical reflection on the goals of development and the way it is implemented in aid of better policy, approaches and outcomes.
• Development Studies is interdisciplinary, co-constituted through disciplines such as Law, Anthropology, Sociology, Gender, Economics, Political Science and International Relations, Human Geography, Critical Historical Studies, Environmental Humanities, Indigenous Studies, and Decolonial and Postcolonial studies as well as some of the technical and natural sciences. Engagement across these disciplines adds to the methodological and theoretical rigour of Development Studies.
• Development Studies is contested not least because development is contested. The project of development has been used, among other things, to justify colonial rule, through the expropriation of lands and other resources, and has been integral to the expansion of economic structures that have benefitted the Global North at the expense of the Global South. At the same time, the Global South has resisted aspects of development, for instance through a South-South Cooperation agenda. Overall development interventions have increased human well-being on a global scale (although unevenly), while ongoing inequality, deprivation and suffering still demand action. The heavy toll of development on the environment, including land, forests, water, plants, animals and the climate, has become a critical concern in Development Studies.
• Development raises questions of power. Power is recognised in Development Studies as not just material power but also embedded in knowledge and practices. DSAA provides space for dialogue to continually rethink and extend our understandings of the political and social nature of development.
• Genuine partnerships are critical for Development Studies, which necessarily starts from an acknowledgement of the unequal power relations between the Global North and Global South and relations of solidarity within the Global South. Partnerships are not limited to North-South relations and have always included South-South cooperation and multi-scalar exchanges within both high and low-income countries. Development Studies aspires to the production of knowledge in collaboration with people and organisations.
• Development takes place at different geographic scales , from bottom-up, small-scale projects in local communities, to larger-scale projects of national significance, through to multi-national initiatives. These may involve small, localised groups of community members, state or national governments, national or international non-government organisations, through to bi-lateral and multi-lateral organisations. Development practitioners and development studies academics work at all of these locales and scales.

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Methodologies in Development Studies: An Overview

• First Online: 22 December 2018

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• Laura Camfield 8  

Part of the book series: EADI Global Development Series ((EADI))

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The interdisciplinary nature of Development Studies makes it hard to indicate a ‘signature’ methodology. Different development challenges bring different ideas about what the problem is (ontology) and how researchers can know about it (epistemology), as well as different research methods. The differential weight placed on the data generated by certain methods and lack of critical attention to how it was actually produced shows the importance of a focus on methodology. The chapter focuses on the types of sample and combinations of methods typically used by researchers within Development Studies to construct credible arguments around questions of policy or practice. It asks what people who generate and use Development Studies research could do to increase its rigour and relevance and how the political economy of development research funding militates against this.

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Camfield, L. (2019). Methodologies in Development Studies: An Overview. In: Baud, I., Basile, E., Kontinen, T., von Itter, S. (eds) Building Development Studies for the New Millennium. EADI Global Development Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04052-9_11

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What is Development Studies

What is development studies and decolonising development.

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What is development studies?

Development studies concerns the global challenge of combatting poverty, injustice, and environmental degradation

About development studies

At its most simplest, development studies is a social science which examines issues related to social and economic development.

Through development studies, we seek to bring a critical perspective to applied real world problems, and the policies, programmes and practices behind these. Historically, the focus was on poorer countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America but development studies now extends to development issues worldwide. We particularly aim to understand the interconnections between global, regional, national and local processes of change.

Because change requires inter-connected solutions, development studies brings together diverse disciplines. With roots in anthropology, economics, sociology, politics and geography, it may also combine with others such as psychology, law, management, natural science, history, agriculture or engineering.

Development research aims to build partnerships between the people most directly affected by social, economic, technological and environmental change, and academics, policy-makers and practitioners. Equitable collaboration between those based in the global South and global North is particularly important. Working in partnership leads to more insightful and creative theory and more sustainable and equitable practice.

Some of the ways the DSA is being part of the movement to modernise development studies include:

• Our Politics and Political Economy study group hosted a conference on development studies, with a resulting paper entitled: What’s wrong with development studies and how can we change it.
• DSA member Andy Sumner of King’s College London wrote the paper What is Development Studies?
• through our DSA study group on Decolonising Development Studies
• offering free DSA membership to those researchers, practitioners and students living in and from the global South
• having a global South and decolonising development studies representative at the DSA council to ensure diversity in all DSA decision making

Decolonising development studies

The roots of development studies lie in colonialism. Development studies still bears the marks of this history. As such, the broader moves to decolonise the curriculum have a particular resonance for us. But it is not only our curriculum that needs to be decolonised, but our institutions, procedures, practices, and default ways of thinking and acting. The commitment to equitable research partnerships is one way we aim to move this agenda forward.

The DSA is actively committed to decolonising development studies. If you would like to get involved, contact DSA Council members: Indrajit Roy and Eyob Gebremarium .