Rachel Brulé

Rachel Brulé, affiliated faculty with the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS), is an associate professor of global development policy at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and Core Faculty of the Human Capital Initiative at the Global Development Policy Center. Her research combines experimental methods with innovative theory building and in-depth qualitative work to identify the causal impact of changes in institutions on the ability of women and members of other traditionally-marginalized groups to engage the state and to advance individual and collective agendas for transformative change.

She is the author of Women, Power, and Property: The Paradox of Gender Equality Laws in India, published with Cambridge University Press in 2020, winner of the American Political Science Association’s 2021 Luebbert Prize for the Best Book in Comparative Politics. My articles are published or forthcoming in the Journal of Politics, the Journal of Development Economics, Politics & Gender, and the Annual Review of Political Science, among others.

Currently, she is advancing several projects that identify the causal impact of important global phenomena on the evolution of institutions. First, in solo and joint work with Akshay Dixit, she studies the impact of climate change-induced weather shocks on women’s collective political engagement in Bangladesh. Second, in joint work with Aliz Tóth, she investigates whether multi-dimensional quotas disrupt interlocking structures of oppression and improve inter-group relations in India and internationally. Third, with Simon Chauchard and Alyssa Heinze, she studies whether nudges that alter the rules of deliberation enable those elected to govern – in particular members of typically-excluded groups – actually shape government decision-making in rural India. In related work with Bhumi Purohit, Paromita Sen and the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Bharat, they investigate the ability of peer mentorship and networking to improve the political agency of first-time female politicians in India.

She is a Truman Scholar (2002, NY) and a Marshall Scholar. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and African Studies, Summa Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College, a MSc in Forced Migration from Oxford University, a MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics, and a PhD in Political Science from Stanford University.

Pronouns: she/her