Summary

I am a Professor of Civil Society and Social Impact with a successful track record of producing research that delivers beneficial outcomes for NGOs seeking to enhance their accountability.

Biography

I gained my PhD (International Relations) at the University of Southampton in 2004. My thesis examined the emergence of transnational public spheres among online networks of civil society activists. I worked at the University of Southampton and Liverpool John Moores University before joining the University of Portsmouth in 2008.

Research interests

My research interests include NGO accountability and regulation, the role of language and translation in NGO development work, NGO-community relationships and pracademia (=research activity that bridges the academic-practitioner divide). I have published widely in a variety of formats on these issues, including monographs, journal articles and commissioned policy papers.

I am committed to research that results in significant benefits for the people and organisations that I work with. In a recent report by the UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR), my work was used as a case study of the UK's global research impact.

I am the Principal Investigator of an AHRC-funded project that aims to solve communication problems between development NGOs and local communities (Translation Glossary Project). Using principles of community-based participatory research, this project worked with local people in Malawi to design a new method of participatory translation, which resulted in a co-produced translation glossary of development terminology in Chichewa-English. It is the first comprehensive glossary of development terminology co-produced through participatory methods. It contains 385 terms translated into the vernacular, including 70 terms that are not included in the Oxford-Chichewa Dictionary (e.g. austerity, conscientisation, social exclusion). We also produced a training handbook on our methods so that other practitioners and researchers can generate their own glossaries in different countries and languages. In this way, we aim to create long-term impact by building the language capacity of development stakeholders within and beyond Malawi. 

The glossary initiative addresses a need for more language support in the NGO sector that I identified in a major AHRC-funded research project that I recently conducted with the University of Reading and the civil society organisation, INTRAC. The project, titled The Listening Zones of NGOs: languages and cultural knowledge in development programmes, explored the role that languages and cultural knowledge play in the policies and practices of development NGOs, and drew upon fieldwork that I conducted in Malawi. The project provided innovative policy recommendations that were adopted by several NGOs in the UK, Malawi and Peru. The project’s findings are contained in my recent book, co-authored with Professor Hilary Footitt and Dr Wine Tesseur: 'Development NGOs and Languages: Listening, Power and Inclusion'.

I am a member of the Steering Group of the Pracademic Development Initiative, which aims to support the career development of researchers who work between the worlds of academic and practice in the pursuit of meaningful social change. Our recent Special Issue of Development in Practice highlighted the innovative work of pracademics across multiple geographical contexts, reflecting on the challenges that they face and the institutional arrangements that enable or constrain their research.

I am also a member of the Independent Review Panel for Accountable Now, the global membership network that works with civil society organisations on improving their accountability practices. I have been consulted by various NGOs for my expert advice, including Tearfund, World Vision and Transparency International. In addition, I have served for several years as a Trustee of Amnesty International UK, and as a member of their International Issues Sub-Committee.

I am an experienced PhD supervisor, and have steered several students to successful completion of their doctoral research. I welcome proposals from PhD candidates on civil society topics, particularly those that investigate different aspects of NGO accountability.

Teaching responsibilities

NGOs and Social Movements (Undergraduate and postgraduate, campus-taught and distance learning)

Researching International Relations (Postgraduate, campus-taught and distance learning)

 

Research outputs

2025

Between worlds, beyond boundaries: Understanding pracademic contributions to social change

Pousadela, I., Crack, A., Fowler, A., Elbers, W., Diola, F.

12 Mar 2025, In: Development in Practice. 35, 2, p. 175-186

Research output: Article

2024

Participatory translation and anti-racism in NGO development work: a method of co-producing translations with community members

Chasukwa, M., Crack, A.

20 May 2024, In: Development Policy Review

Research output: Article

'Pracademics' are overlooked change agents in development

Crack, A., Fowler, A., Diola, F., Elbers, W., Pousadela, I. M.

7 Feb 2024, In: Devex

Research output: Article

2023

Developmental pracademics: who they are and why they matter

Fowler, A., Crack, A., Diola, F., Pousadela, I. M., Elbers, W.

22 Dec 2023, In: Development in Practice, 6p.

Research output: Article

Promoting linguistic inclusivity in NGO work

Crack, A.

28 Apr 2023,

Research output: Chapter (peer-reviewed)

2020

Development NGOs and Languages: Listening, Power and Inclusion

Footitt, H. A., Crack, A., Tesseur, W.

13 Aug 2020,

Research output: Book

‘These are all outside words’: translating development discourse in NGOs’ projects Kyrgyzstan and Malawi

Tesseur, W., Crack, A.

22 May 2020, In: Journal for Translation Studies in Africa. 1

Research output: Article

View all my research outputs