Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner is a PhD Candidate in MIT's Department of Political Science. Her interests lie in the political economy of development, with a particular focus on state-civil society relations, local governance, and the provision of public goods and services.
Gabi's dissertation, "Accessing the State: Local Governance and Public Goods in Rural India", seeks to explain variation in access to public goods and services at the local level and, in particular, the different paths poor people and communities pursue to obtain such services. Through a sub-national study of Indian villages, the project aims to develop a deeper understanding of local governance, exploring the interaction of both formal and informal institutions. This project builds on prior work in Tamil Nadu, India that examined village-level recovery following the 2004 tsunami, and the institutions (formal and informal) through which different groups (women, men, and different caste communities) sought aid and services.
Gabi earned her Masters in International Development and Regional Planning from MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and a B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from Swarthmore College. Gabi's professional experience includes work with a number of development and human rights NGOs, including Oxfam America, WaterAid, Washington Office on Latin America, and Ashoka. She has worked and carried out field research in Nicaragua, Mexico, Mozambique, and India.
email: gkw@mit.edu