Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Tameside, Greater Manchester, to a long line of cotton mill workers, Victoria’s youth shaped both her interest in economics and her ear for the voices of marginalised women. As a child of the Thatcher era, her personal experience of economic decline and social deprivation spurred her interest in the "big" questions that economists seek to answer, such as "why are some countries rich and others poor?", "what causes boom and bust?" and "how can poverty be resolved?". After a state school education in Oldham (at Saddleworth School and Oldham Sixth Form College), Victoria earned a degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge, followed by a Masters degree in Economic and Social History and a DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford. She returned to Cambridge - as a Fellow in Economics - in 2009, becoming Director of Studies in Economics at Gonville and Caius College.
Victoria speaking at the Ways with Words Literary Festival in Dartington
Victoria has published books on economic history, feminist economics and gender inequality, as well as writing academic papers on everything from the development of markets in history to the decriminalisation of sex work.
Outside of her academic work, Victoria has been profiled and photographed by The Times, the Daily Mail, the New Statesman and Liberation, and has written for Bloomberg, CapX and UnHerd, as well as authoring articles for The Guardian, Times Higher Education and The Telegraph. She has appeared on BBC News, Newsnight, BBC Radio 4 and ITV, and has been interviewed by, amongst others, Quartz, the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Independent, and Cambridge News.
In addition to her writing, Victoria has also spoken publicly on topics including economic growth, the Industrial Revolution, capitalism, gender inequality, the crisis in care, and Brexit. She has given speeches at the Hay Festival, the “Ways With Words” literary festival (Dartington), the Bradford Literary Festival, The Festival of Ideas, and The House of Literature (Oslo). Victoria has also addressed political rallies, particularly those revolving around Brexit, including here and here.
Victoria speaking at the Office for National Statistics in Wales
Victoria speaking at the Chester Diversity Festival
Aside from her writing and public speaking, Victoria is also known for using her own body in art and protest, to challenge the assumptions and stigma surrounding women’s bodies, to confront sexism in economics, and to fight Brexit. Her naked portraits have been displayed at the Mall Galleries in London (2014 & 2019) and one is on permanent display at Girton College, Cambridge. She has delivered live naked performances on stage at Dartington Literary Festival, at the Cambridge Junction theatre, at Chester Diversity Festival and at the Adam Smith Institute - as well as making appearances on the topic of feminist economics at DEFRA and the ONS in nothing more than a handful of banknotes.
Victoria believes that academics should not only embrace the power of the written word but should also be free to push social boundaries in order to reveal and confront practices and policies that are harmful and unnecessary, including those revolving around what she calls the “cult of female modesty”. Her utopia is a world in which every woman is free to do what she wants with her body, as well as her brain.
Interviews AND PROFILES
The Times - “What makes Victoria Bateman strip? The naked Brexit protestor reveals all”
The Daily Mail - “I turned up naked to a black-tie champagne reception at the Royal Economic Society... Why all the fuss?”
The New Statesman - “I use my naked body to try and subvert things”
The Independent - “I want to show that behind every naked woman is a real thinking woman”
Liberation (in French) - “This brilliant economist and professor at Cambridge poses naked against Brexit.”
Die Zeit (in German) - “Naked protest is powerful”
Quartz - “Meet the naked academic who is rewriting women—and their bodies—into economic history”
Welt (in German) - “I don’t expect people to like my naked body”
Varsity - “When I was a teenage girl you were basically written off”
Varsity - “On the cult of female modesty”
The Chronicle of Higher Education - “Are women invisible to economists?”
Cambridge 105 (Radio)
The Guardian (Video) also on YouTube - “We are a nation of prudes”
Staying Sane with Natasha Devon (Podcast)