Original article: El Global South Academic Forum (GSAF) 2026 presenta un paquete de publicaciones clave sobre teoría del desarrollo, análisis político y soberanía digital en el Sur Global

GSAF 2026 Unveils Key Publications on Development Theory, Political Analysis, and Digital Sovereignty in the Global South

The Global South Academic Forum (GSAF) 2026 — the only international academic forum in China dedicated specifically to the Global South — will hold its annual press conference at the Songshan Hall, 2F. This event will feature simultaneous interpretation in Chinese, English, and Portuguese, and will formally present a series of foundational publications addressing the challenges and aspirations of the Global South in the 21st century.

By El Ciudadano

The GSAF is an international academic community initiated by the Institute of International Communication Research at East China Normal University. It gathers over a thousand scholars, policy experts, and media professionals from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and beyond, promoting autonomous knowledge production through publications, seminars, and partnerships. Its goal is to foster critical debate and academic collaboration towards building a more just, equitable, and peaceful global order.

The press conference, moderated by Jojo Hu, will be structured into four parts reflecting the main lines of work of the Forum. The first will address theories and tools for a new development theory; the second will present situational reports from Brazil and Ghana; the third will explore political systems beyond the liberal West and the project Hands Off Asia; and the fourth will focus on digital sovereignty and artificial intelligence.

Featured Publications

Part I · Global South Development Theory

The special edition «Global South Development Theory» of the journal Wenhua Zongheng, published in collaboration with Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and the GSAF, will be presented. This edition includes analyses on building a new modernization theory that deviates from the Northern neoliberal paradigms, the role of electrification as a tool of state power (with the case of Pakistan), and alternative models of globalization and industrialization.

Additionally, the research report from Dependency Lab: Between the Chain and the Possibility — Two Stories of Sovereign Development in the Global South, produced by the Economic Department of Tricontinental and the GSAF, will be showcased. This report provides an analytical framework with three instruments — the Structural Dependency Index (SDI), the State Mediation Capacity (SMC), and Social Reproduction Outcomes (SRO) — and compares the cases of Zambia, China, and ASEAN to examine how the architecture of surplus retention and the ownership of strategic nodes dictate development outcomes.

Part II · National Situational Reports: Brazil and Ghana

The two national situational reports will be formally presented, and printed editions are currently in production. No paper copies will be distributed on-site; the chapter previews included in the pre-reading package solely describe the scope and structure of the reports, without findings, figures, or forecasts.

• Brazil: The report examines how land, labor, and finance institutions, forged since the Land Law of 1850, shaped the labor market and property regime, conditioning current development options. The preview covers a five-part structure and eleven chapters, from colonial genesis to the current political context.
• Ghana: The report analyzes Ghana as an enclave economy built around gold, cocoa, and oil, and the possibilities for structural transformation. It includes chapters on the political landscape, social dynamics, regional context, foreign relations, risk assessment, policy implications, and scenarios for 2026–2027.

Part III · Political Systems Beyond the Liberal West

The project Hands Off Asia: A People’s Call for Sovereignty and Solidarity will be presented, compiling the proceedings of the conference of the same name held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from July 16 to 18, 2026. The complete English edition includes 33 speeches, the Colombo Declaration, and the lyrics to a song composed during the event. Organized by the International Peoples’ Assembly (Asia) and supported by Tricontinental, the volume addresses the militarization of Asia, debt, tariffs, imperialist interference, and socialist alternatives.

Additionally, the third issue of the journal Zetkin Journal, titled «Whose Democracy? Building Political Systems beyond the Liberal West», will be launched. Published by the Zetkin Forum for Social Research, this issue questions Western narratives on democracy and examines alternative political systems in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Cuba, China, Iran, Venezuela, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Part IV · Digital Sovereignty and Knowledge Production

The book Bandung Circuits: AI, Digital Sovereignty, and Knowledge Production in the Global South, with a foreword by Vijay Prashad, will be launched. Officially presented during the forum, this work explores how the Global South can acquire institutional, technical, and political capacity to shape artificial intelligence for its own purposes. It examines the social foundations of digital sovereignty, knowledge engineering, the AI4SS (AI for Social Science) framework, and the POMASA (Pattern-Oriented Multi-Agent System Architecture), as well as tools such as IARAA, developed with the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) in Brazil.

Participants

The conference will feature:

• Jojo Hu — Moderator.
• Tings Chak — Co-coordinator of Tricontinental’s Asia Desk; presents Wenhua Zongheng and the Hands Off Asia project.
• Emiliano López — Presents the report from Dependency Lab.
• Neuri Domingos Rossetto — Presents the report from Brazil.
• Kwesi Pratt Jnr — Presents the report from Ghana.
• Franziska Kleiner — Presents the launch of Zetkin Journal, issue 03.
• Jeff Xiong (Xiong Jie) — General Secretary of GSAF and director of the Global South Studies Center at East China Normal University; presents Bandung Circuits.

Event Agenda

Website: https://thegsaf.org/