Ruth Bookbinder

Profile

I returned to the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) as a Research Fellow in August 2025, from the University of Birmingham, where I was a Research Fellow in the Birmingham Business School.

After completing my PhD in POLIS in November 2021 I also held postdoctoral research positions in the School of Earth and Environment and the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds.

Alongside my academic career, I spent three years as an analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, and continued to undertake freelance consulting work throughout my PhD.

Research interests

My research explores the political economy of energy transitions, focusing on justice, labour, and governance. My PhD examined rent-seeking and procurement practices at South Africa’s national electricity company, and I have since expanded this work to investigate the political economy of South Africa’s energy transition and the possibilities for a just transition.
One of my current projects, South Africa’s ‘Just’ Energy Transition, is a collaboration with the Sam Tambani Research Institute in Johannesburg, the research arm of the National Union of Mineworkers. It aims to embed justice in the energy transition by centring the experiences and needs of workers and communities in the coal belt. This project also contributes to a 14-country comparative study funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, which explores workers’ experiences and responses to the climate crisis.
Beyond South Africa, I have conducted research in Botswana, Rwanda, and the UK.

Qualifications

• PhD Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
• MSc African Studies, University of Oxford

Professional memberships

• African Studies Association of the UK
• Political Studies Association