AR+DC 2025: Architecture Research and Design Conference 2025

The term Global South is more than a metaphor for underdevelopment; it encapsulates a history of colonialism, neo-imperialism, and ongoing global inequalities in wealth, resources, power, and cultural dominance (Dados & Connell, 2012). As a critical framework, it illuminates the geopolitical, socio-economic, and cultural disparities that define regions in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania—areas often marginalized in the global narrative dominated by Europe and North America. Emerging from a history of colonialism and imperialism, the concept shifts focus from development or cultural differences to geopolitical power relations and global inequalities of the North-South (Fanon, 1961). Early sociologists categorized societies as “advanced” or “primitive,” often associating the latter with colonized regions, while thinkers like Antonio Gramsci and Raúl Prebisch highlighted economic and cultural marginalization. The core-periphery model, post-colonial theories, and cultural resistance movements such as the Zapatista revolt and the World Social Forum further solidified the North-South divide, the struggle for cultural sovereignty and resistance to imperialism and the legacy of colonialism (Dados & Connell, 2012). Today, the Global South represents not just underdevelopment but a site of intellectual production where ongoing struggle against global inequalities challenges the homogenizing forces of globalization.

Submissions will centre on the following themes, while also considering additional relevant topics: architecture, urban design, social studies and global south.