Introduction: Reflecting on Development Studies in the New Millennium

This chapter provides an overview of debates on Development Studies taking place within EADI in the new Millennium. After introducing the main changes in global development processes forming the context of Development Studies, the chapter explores the contributions to the field by Spanish-language and Francophone Development Studies, and the new and potential links Development Studies has to other disciplines, which can help it deal with current challenges in global development issues. In following sections, it explores the implications of these changes for the DS academic community in terms of new perspectives on knowledge, narratives and paradigms, methodologies and scientific impact of research. In the final section, contributions on how Southern issues and perspectives are informing current Northern-dominated academic discussions, and new themes in DS are presented.