It was formally established at the National Development Research Glasgow Conference in 1978 and currently has 35 institutional members (primarily UK University departments/research centres with some development organisations) and 400 individual and student members.
It is governed by a Council made up of academics and practitioners working in international development elected at the Annual General Meeting.
The DSA aims to advance knowledge of the alternative processes and methods of socio-economic change, through supporting high quality research, teaching and practice in international development.
Its strategic objectives are to: i) Mobilise collective capacity and knowledge ii) Nurture the next generation iii) Invest in development infrastructure in the UK and beyond.
The DSA annual conference gathers together scholars, practitioners, policy makers and other commentators to focus upon major contemporary international development issues in the largest gathering in the UK of the development community.