Background

Recognised as a Study Group in 1981 and granted Research Committee status in 1990, RC35 has consistently fulfilled its mission with excellence and intellectual rigour in advancing the study of Technology and Development within Political Science.

Over the decades, RC35 has established itself as a vibrant scholarly platform connecting researchers working on governance, innovation, political economy, digital transformation, sustainable development, and global technological change.

Since 2008, RC35 has maintained a constant and active presence in IPSA World Congresses and international conferences, contributing panels, publications, and collaborative research initiatives.

IPSA World Congresses (2006–2025)

  • 2025 Seoul – 28th World Congress
    (Resisting Autocratization in Polarized Societies)
  • 2023 Buenos Aires – 27th World Congress
    (Politics in the Age of Transboundary Crises)
  • 2021 Virtual – 26th World Congress
    (New Nationalisms in an Open World)
  • 2018 Brisbane – 25th World Congress
    (Borders and Margins)
  • 2017 Hanover – Conference
    (Political Science in a Digital Age)
  • 2016 Poznań – 24th World Congress
    (Politics in a World of Inequality)
  • 2014 Montréal – 23rd World Congress
    (Challenges of Contemporary Governance)
  • 2012 Madrid – 22nd World Congress
    (Reshaping Power, Shifting Boundaries)
  • 2011 São Paulo – Conference
    (Whatever Happened to North-South? Joint Conference with ECPR)
  • 2010 Luxembourg – Conference
    (European Models of Governance: A Comparative Perspective)
  • 2009 Santiago – 21st World Congress
    (Global Discontent? Dilemmas of Change)
  • 2008 Montréal – Conference
    (International Political Science: New Theoretical and Regional Perspectives)
  • 2006 Fukuoka – 20th World Congress
    (Is Democracy Working?)

RC35 Renewal and Strategic Direction (2023–2027)

At the 27th IPSA World Congress in Buenos Aires (2023), a newly elected and substantially renewed RC35 Committee was formed. During the Committee Meeting, members adopted a Plan for Action (2023–2025) aimed at strengthening:

  • Global academic networking
  • Publication output
  • Early-career scholar engagement
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Visibility within IPSA

The 28th IPSA World Congress in Seoul (2025) marks a new milestone for RC35. With strong participation and renewed intellectual momentum, RC35 enters the 2025–2027 leadership cycle with a consolidated international board and a forward-looking research agenda addressing:

  • Digital governance and democracy
  • AI and political development
  • Technological sovereignty
  • Sustainable innovation
  • North–South technological dynamics
  • Global power shifts in the age of intelligent machines

The newly elected RC35 Board (2025–2027) reflects geographical diversity and interdisciplinary excellence, strengthening our position within IPSA and the global political science community.

Our Mission

RC35 is more than a research committee. It is:

  • A meeting place to think
  • A platform to act
  • A space to publish
  • A network for civic engagement
  • A forum for political economy debate
  • A laboratory for imagining future technological orders

We look forward to the future.

Recognising the past.
Transforming the present.
Understanding that every point of arrival is also a point of departure.

Welcome!

MRS, Chair RC35

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You can contact our RC35 at:

Dr. Miguel Rocha de Sousa,

RC35 Chair, Technology and Development, IPSA.

Assistant Professor of Economics

University of Évora,

Portugal.

mrsousa@uevora.pt