Association conferences

‘Development’ amidst the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond: Where do we go from here?
Since 2020, ‘development’ studies and practice have turned their attention to addressing the numerous local and global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to these impacts, many governments have implemented unprecedented public policy changes: states of emergency, lockdowns and movement restrictions, temporary income and basic needs supports, subsidies for businesses, and investments in health. And yet, despite the enormous upheavals presented by the virus and the global responses to it, one could argue that much remains the same.
Beyond this, we find ourselves in a web of several interconnected crises of which COVID-19 is only one node. Climate change, capital accumulation and social oppression in its various forms are all crises in desperate need of action now and beyond the pandemic. However, times of crisis can present opportunities for change. In addition to state responses, we have seen an uprising in social movements and other actors fighting for change. In thinking about the role that ‘development’ can and should play to help us break from these crises and work towards global justice. In contemplating this future, we ask: Where do we go from here?