Rachel Nadelman
Research Assistant Professor
SIS | Environment, Development & Health
Additional Positions at AU
Research Faculty
Degrees
PhD, International Relations, American University; M.A., International Affairs, The New School; A.B., Comparative Literature, Brown University
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish and French
Bio
Rachel Nadelman is Research Faculty at The School of International Service (SIS), affiliated with the Department of Environment, Development and Health (EDH) and the Accountability Research Center (ARC). A scholar/practitioner almost 20 years, she has worked across multi- and bi-lateral institutions, grassroots organizations, small foundations and university-based research centers, which has allowed her to approach the development field from a range of vantage points. Her current work looks at whether and how international development finance institutions (DFIs) undertake civic engagement with affected communities, with particular attention to the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Publication highlights include:
“The World Bank’s Civic Test,” blog, Center for Global Development (October 2025)
“The World Bank and Civic Space,” chapter in In: The Elgar Companion to the World Bank, (2024)
“Is The World Bank Rolling Back Commitments to Citizen and Civil Society Engagement, Again?” Bretton Woods Project At Issue (2024)
“How Do World Bank Staff Perceive the Institutional Environment for Building Citizen Engagement into Projects?” Accountability Working Paper, Accountability Research Center, (2021)
"How Do World Bank Projects Commit to Citizen Engagement?" IDS Policy Briefing 169, The Institute for Development Studies (2020),
“El Salvador's Challenge to the Latin American Extractive Imperative,” in Extraction: Impacts, Engagements, And Alternative Futures, Routledge (2017);
“The Integration of Livelihood Support and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Populations Who Have Been Subject to Severe Stressors,” in Intervention, vol 14 num 3 (2016);
Women, Honey and Money: Linking Rural Women in Uganda with Export Markets,” in Trading Stories: Experiences with Gender and Trade, The Commonwealth Secretariat (2009). "How Do World Bank Projects Commit to Citizen Engagement?" The Institute for Development Studies (2020)
“El Salvador's Challenge to the Latin American Extractive Imperative,” in Extraction: Impacts, Engagements, And Alternative Futures, Routledge (2017);
The Integration of Livelihood Support and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Populations Who Have Been Subject to Severe Stressors,” in Intervention, vol 14 num 3 (2016);
Territories free of mining: The fight against gold mining in El Salvador," in Practicing Anthropology vol 38, num 3 (2016);
Haiti Community Driven Development Project Gender Assessment: Findings and Lessons Learned, The World Bank, (2011),
Women, Honey and Money: Linking Rural Women in Uganda with Export Markets,” in Trading Stories: Experiences with Gender and Trade, The Commonwealth Secretariat (2009).
