Yvette Abrahams

I was born in Cape Town in the early 1960s to struggle parents of slave and Khoekhoe descent. I grew up in exile (Zambia, England, Sweden), and returned home to study at the University of Cape Town in 1983. This was just in time to experience the last chapter of the liberation struggle, which I did within the Black Consciousness Movement. By 1986 I had dropped out of varsity and was learning Revolution 101 in Mitchell’s Plain. In 1991, what with the release of political prisoners and a negotiated settlement on the horizon, I reluctantly ran out of reasons to neglect my studies, and graduated eventually with a Master’s degree in History in 1994 and a Ph. D. in Economic History in 2002.

I have worked at the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape. I have consulted for both government and various NGO’s on issues relating to gender equality in policy and practice. I have published widely both locally and internationally on various topics related to gender equality, queer theory, as well as the history of First Nations South Africans. I worked for five years as Commissioner For Gender Equality, based in Cape Town. At the CGE, I was head of their programmes on poverty, energy and climate change. I am currently nominated Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Women and Gender Studies, University of the Western Cape, while I continue to consult for NGO’s in the field of gender and climate change.

My work at present for Project 90 by 2030 focuses on food security, energy, and local government in the context of climate change. My current research interests are in the field of indigenous economic plants (especially as they speak to economic development and climate resilience); and climate change economics.