‘(Re-)establishing Political Economy in Development Studies’

Funded by the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the Development Studies Association (DSA), linked to the joint EADI/DSA Politics and Political Economy of Economic Transformation Working Group, the workshop is inviting submissions of short position papers for a workshop entitled: 

(Re-)establishing Political Economy in Development Studies' , to be held on Friday, 5 December, 2025 in Manchester, UK. 

The one-day workshop will be part of a two-day event (4-5 December 2025). The first day will be a workshop on ‘Is Development still possible under contemporary globalization?’, organized by the EADI/DSA Politics and Political Economy of Economic Transformation Group.

The goal is to bring the revised position papers together into a special issue, to be submitted to the European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) or another development studies journal.

Who can apply?

The call is open to all early-career researchers, i.e. researchers currently enrolled in a PhD progamme, or having been awarded their PhD degree after January 2023.

How to submit to the early-career workshop

The workshop will be structured around three thematic blocs that correspond to crucial sub-fields within Political Economy. Applications are encouraged even if the topic does not fit neatly within these categories, or to contact the organizers (details below) if the applicant is unsure. 

1. The Political Economy of Contemporary Economic Transformation
2. The Political Economy of Redistribution
3. The Political Economy of the Green Transition
    

Full draft papers (3000-5000 words) must to be submitted two weeks before the workshop (20 November). The organizers plan to accept four position paper submissions (2000-3000 words) for each thematic bloc, coming to a total of twelve. 

Position papers should aim to demonstrate the added value of a political economy lens in understanding a specific developmental issue, by juxtaposing it with different theoretical perspectives from other disciplines. 

This can be the authors’ PhD topic, or related topics. It will preferably be demonstrated with original empirical data, although an in-depth engagement with existing literature will also be acceptable if the authors are at an early stage of their PhD. 

Authors are welcome to structure their own position papers, although preferably they will cover: 

• a review of the broad developmental issue understood through different perspectives
• the added value of the political economy perspective
• an illustration using empirical data. 

A wide variety of political economy perspectives with a critical lens are welcomed.  

About the workshop

Political economy was arguably the central organizing tradition within the field of development studies for several decades, placing attention on dynamics such as the interplay of structure and agency, power, ideology and institutions, as well as class and social structures. In doing so, it has been able to provide explanations for hierarchies of power and uneven patterns of development on the global, regional, and national level over time. As development studies has become more multi-disciplinary, political economy has become more marginal, echoing its position in several other disciplines, such as economics and political science (Fine and Milonakis, 2009).

However, political economy remains as crucial a perspective as ever, to provide answers to evolving development questions, such as why we see limits in the ability of Global Value Chains to spur global convergence, why debt crises are once again on the rise in the Global South, or why the green transition appears to be creating new patterns of inequality.

Building on its growing network, the PhD Political Economy Working Group, founded by Caroline Cornier (University of Manchester) and Guido Maschhaupt (ISS-NL) in 2024, is organizing a workshop that aims to forefront early-career scholarship in political economy. 

In particular, the workshop will focus on exhibiting the added value of political economy perspectives to development studies and social sciences more generally.

Practical considerations

• The two-day workshop will be held on 4 and 5 December 2025, from 9am to 5pm each day.
• On Thursday, 4 December, a workshop will be held on “Is Development still possible under contemporary globalization’, organized by the EADI/DSA Politics and Political Economy of Economic Transformation Group.
• Friday, 5 December, will be the early-career workshop, in which each paper will be discussed in turn, to provide in-depth feedback and identify common themes.
• Participants will be expected to read all the submissions and to act as discussants for two of them. There will also be several more senior scholars in attendance to provide feedback. 

The organizers have limited funding for travel and accommodation and therefore encourage participants to find their own funding if they can, to allow for broader participation. Please indicate whether you can self-fund your travel and accommodation when you submit your abstract.