Victoria Bateman

Short description: British economist

Victoria Bateman

Born|

Victoria Naomi Powell

1979 (age 46-47)[1]

Tameside, England

Occupation| Academic, economist
Spouse(s)| James Bateman
Academic background
Alma mater| Saddleworth School
Oldham Sixth Form College
University of Cambridge (B.A.)
University of Oxford (M.Sc., D.Phil.)
Academic work
Discipline| Economic history
Feminist economics
Gender inequality
Institutions| Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Main interests| British economic history, macroeconomics, feminism
Website| www.vnbateman.com

Victoria Naomi Bateman (née Powell, born 1979) is a British feminist economist and academic, specialising in economic history. She is a fellow in economics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.[2] She is Director of Studies for the Economics Tripos at Gonville and Caius College.

Brought up in Lees, Oldham, Bateman attended Saddleworth School, Uppermill. She then studied for A-levels at Oldham Sixth Form College where she was President of the Student Union. She read economics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,[3] and went on to receive master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Oxford.

Her research focuses on economic history, including the role of markets in economic development, and the role of women's rights and freedoms in stimulating economic growth.

She is well known for her public protests against Brexit and in favour of women's rights, occasionally appearing naked.

## Contents

* 1 Early life
* 2 Research
* 3 Feminism and protest
* 4 Brexit and protest
* 5 Media
* 6 Personal life
* 7 Books
* 8 References

## Early life

Bateman grew up with two younger sisters in Lees, Oldham. Her father worked in the sheet metal industry, installing ductwork; her mother worked for the same company in the payroll department. When both parents lost their jobs, her father started a new business of his own, which foundered when clients were unable to pay. Her mother worked several jobs, and the family struggled to pay its debts. Bateman's parents divorced when she was 14 years old, and their economic straits worsened. Her sisters dropped out of school, and one became pregnant as a teenager. Bateman attributes her interest in economics to witnessing first-hand the effects of the boom-bust cycle and economic disparity. With the encouragement of her father and a history teacher, she studied economics at Cambridge as an undergraduate, followed by master's degrees in economics and economic history and a doctoral degree in economics at Oxford.[4]

## Research

Bateman's academic research focuses on economic history. Her 2019 book The Sex Factor: How Women Made the West Rich argues that women's rights and freedoms were a key factor enabling the industrial and economic development of the West, by boosting wages, skills, saving and entrepreneurial spirit, and helping to produce a democratic and capable state.[5]

Her earlier work focused on the role of markets in economic development in Europe. Her paper The evolution of markets in early modern Europe, 1350–1800: a study of wheat prices[6] uses data on European wheat prices to study trends in market development from the early medieval period to the industrial revolution, demonstrating that markets were as well-integrated across Europe in the early 16th century as they were in the late 19th century. Her book Markets and growth in early modern Europe builds on this research, examining several aspects of the relationship between market integration and economic development.[7]

## Feminism and protest

Bateman identifies as a feminist, and writes: "I believe passionately in freedom for women, and whilst many battles have been won in the past century, there is still a long way for society to move until women enjoy the levels of freedom that they should be able to. I am not afraid to use my body as well as my brain to deliver important messages."[8]

In 2014, Bateman commissioned and posed nude for a life-size portrait by Anthony Connolly, which subsequently appeared in the Mall Galleries.[9] Bateman said that the purpose of the painting was to ask questions about the sexualisation of women in modern society.[10] In June 2018, Bateman attended the Gonville and Caius College end of term supervisor dinner wearing a see through body suit, with the words "my body my choice" written on her body.[11] Bateman is an advocate of the recognition by economists of the economic value of the sex trade and the right of women to earn their living by prostitution.[12][13] In July 2018, Bateman posted a video on Twitter in which she appeared naked and discussed inequality in economics.[14]

## Brexit and protest

Bateman is a frequent critic of Brexit, arguing that "Brexit leaves Britain naked",[15] and that leaving the EU would hurt low-income families,[16] damage British scientific research,[17] would reduce trade and investment, and would place freedom for the nation state ahead of freedom for the individual.[18]

Following the pro-Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016, Bateman attended a Cambridge University Faculty of Economics meeting naked, as a protest against Brexit.[19] She had the words "Brexit leaves Britain naked" written across her torso.[20] On 14 January 2019, Bateman delivered an hour-long lecture against Brexit at the Cambridge Junction while naked,[18] then asked the audience to sign her body as a petition.[21] She was subsequently invited to appear on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, in which she also stripped naked.[22] This led to a naked appearance on Good Morning Britain, although her body was pixelated before broadcast.[23] She similarly appeared naked at the March 2018 meeting of the Royal Economic Society.[24]

## Media

Bateman has written regular economics commentary for Unherd,[25] Bloomberg View[26] and CapX,[27] has contributed articles to The Guardian, Times Higher Education, The Conversation and The Telegraph and has appeared on a number of BBC Radio 4 programmes.[28]

## Personal life

Bateman is married to James Bateman, who works for an asset management company. They met at Cambridge University.[29]

## Books

* Bateman, Victoria (2016). Markets and Growth in Early Modern Europe. Routledge[30]
* Bateman, Victoria (2019). The Sex Factor: How Women Made the West Rich. Polity. [31]
* Bateman, Victoria (2023) Naked Feminism: Breaking the Cult of Female Modesty, Wiley.[32]
* Bateman, Victoria (2025) Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power, ISBN 978-1541606067[33]

## References

1. ↑ Bateman, Victoria (25 July 2017). "Capitalists – not socialists – are killing capitalism". https://unherd.com/2017/07/capitalists-not-socialists-killing-capitalism/. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
2. ↑ "Dr Victoria N Bateman". University of Cambridge. https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/people/victoria-bateman. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
3. ↑ George, Belle (19 October 2018). "Victoria Bateman on 'the cult of female modesty'". Varsity (Cambridge, UK). https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/16303. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
4. ↑ Kafka, Alexander C. (2019-05-17). "Are Women Invisible to Economists? One Scholar Is Stripping Down to Make Them Look". https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20190516-bateman.
5. ↑ "The Sex Factor". Victoria Bateman. http://vnbateman.com/the-sex-factor.html. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
6. ↑ Bateman, Victoria N. (1 May 2011). "The evolution of markets in early modern Europe, 1350–1800: a study of wheat prices1". The Economic History Review 64 (2): 447–471. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.2010.00540.x. ISSN 1468-0289.
7. ↑ "Markets and Growth in Early Modern Europe". http://eh.net/book_reviews/markets-and-growth-in-early-modern-europe/. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
8. ↑ "Protest". Victoria Bateman. http://vnbateman.com/protest.html. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
9. ↑ "Dr Victoria Bateman, Economist". Art UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/dr-victoria-bateman-economist-308782. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
10. ↑ Pilger, Zoe (18 May 2014). "Why such a scandal over a nude painting of a Cambridge academic?". https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/may/18/cambridge-nude-painting-scandal-society-attitudes. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
11. ↑ "Female lecturer bares all to promote abortion, prostitution at faculty dinner". 20 June 2018. https://www.thecollegefix.com/female-lecturer-bares-all-to-promote-abortion-prostitution-at-faculty-dinner/. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
12. ↑ Bulman, May (31 March 2017). "Female sex workers should be thought of in same way as male soldiers and boxers, Cambridge academic says". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cambridge-university-economist-name-women-sex-work-earn-money-prostitution-a7659401.html. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
13. ↑ Woolcock, Nicola (31 March 2017). "Why shouldn't women make a living from sex, academic asks". The Times. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/why-shouldn-t-women-make-a-living-from-sex-academic-asks-5f7b0f066.
14. ↑ "Naked Cambridge University don says stripper jokes won't stop me". 25 July 2018. https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/victoria-bateman-naked-cambridge-university-14948651. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
15. ↑ Espinoza, Javier (1 July 2016). "'Brexit leaves Britain naked': Cambridge academic stages nude protest against outcome of EU referendum". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/07/01/naked-don-a-cambridge-academics-protest-against-brexit/. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
16. ↑ Bateman, Victoria. "Exit from EU would hit poor UK families". https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-06-09/exit-from-eu-would-hit-poor-u-k-families-hard.
17. ↑ Bateman, Victoria (3 March 2016). "Brexit will hurt UK Science". https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-03-03/boris-johnson-s-brother-is-right-brexit-will-hurt-u-k-science. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Brexit: The Naked Truth". Victoria Bateman. http://vnbateman.com/brexit.html. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
19. ↑ Espinoza, Javier (1 July 2016). "'Brexit leaves Britain naked': Cambridge academic stages nude protest against outcome of EU referendum". The Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/07/01/naked-don-a-cambridge-academics-protest-against-brexit/. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
20. ↑ Bulman, May (2 July 2016). "Cambridge academic stages nude protest over Brexit in front of 30 economists during faculty meeting". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nude-naked-brexit-protest-woman-cambridge-university-professor-victoria-bateman-30-economists-a7115341.html. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
21. ↑ Hallam, Luke (15 January 2019). "Dr Victoria Bateman Gets Naked Against Brexit". The Cambridge Student. https://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/dr-victoria-bateman-gets-naked-against-brexit/. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
22. ↑ "Professor does Brexit radio interview completely in the nude". 8 February 2019. https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/08/professor-brexit-radio-interview-completely-nude-8480138/. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
23. ↑ "Dr Victoria Bateman on GMB: Naked protester branded 'embarrassing' as she strips off for live interview". 12 February 2019. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/dr-victoria-bateman-naked-brexit-protester-strips-off-for-live-interview-on-good-morning-britian-a4064031.html. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
24. ↑ Kafka, Alexander C. (June 21, 2019). "Victoria Bateman's Self Revelations: an economist strips down to make a point". Chronicle of Higher Education: B17-19.
25. ↑ "Victoria Bateman, Author at UnHerd". https://unherd.com/author/victoria-bateman/. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
26. ↑ "Bloomberg Author: Victoria Bateman". https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/ASo9b28KKGs/victoria-bateman.
27. ↑ "Victoria Bateman, Author at CapX". https://capx.co/author/victoriabateman/. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
28. ↑ "Radio". Victoria Bateman. http://vnbateman.com/radio.html. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
29. ↑ Billen, Andrew (28 March 2019). "What makes Victoria Bateman strip? The naked Brexit protester reveals all". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/what-makes-victoria-bateman-strip-the-naked-brexit-protester-reveals-all-7dq0ztwhw.
30. ↑ Administrator (10 February 2017). "Dr Victoria Bateman". http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/people/cto/vb295. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
31. ↑ Williams, Zoe (30 March 2019). "The Sex Factor by Victoria Bateman review – punching feminism into economics". http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/30/the-sex-factor-victoria-bateman-review. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
32. ↑ Clarence-Smith, Louisa (2023-03-21). "The feminism book banned from Amazon Ads over 'sexually suggestive' cover". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/21/feminism-book-banned-amazon-ads-sexually-suggestive-cover/.
33. ↑ "Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power". 30 March 2019. https://newbooksnetwork.com/economica-a-global-history-of-women-wealth-and-power. Retrieved 15 December 2025.

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