Welcome to the website of APAD, the Association for the Anthropology of Social Change and Development.

Created in 1991, APAD seeks to advance scientific exchanges as well as dialogue with development actors on issues of social change and development, in Africa and elsewhere. APAD promotes rigorous analysis of the practices and representations of actors, with an orientation rooted in social anthropology and in the qualitative social sciences overall. Initially focused on the study of interactions between actors of development interventions, APAD’s approach has since broadened to include development policies and processes of social change.

APAD publishes the journal Anthropologie & développement (replacing the APAD Bulletin), edits books, and, every two years, organises a conference. 400 members strong, it has created a space for researchers and practitioners – from the Global North and the Global South, Anglophone or Francophone – for sharing ideas and for publishing.