Verity Burgmann

Who is Verity Burgmann?

Verity Nancy Burgmann is Professor Emerita in the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University. In 2013 she was Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack Visiting Professor of Australian Studies in the Institut für Englische Philologie at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Burgmann was born in Sydney, Australia, the daughter of Victor Burgmann and Lorna Bradbury. In 1971 she left home to attend the London School of Economics, where she completed a B.Sc with a major in politics. In 1980 she completed her Ph.D, Revolutionaries and Racists: Australian Socialism and the Problem of Racism, at the Australian National University.

During the 1970s, Burgmann became actively involved in 'radical' politics, most notably the anti-apartheid campaign, and the campaign for aboriginal land rights. In 1971, along with her sister Meredith, she was ejected from the Sydney Cricket Ground after disrupting play during the controversial 1971 Springbok tour of Australia. Burgmann's activism continued during her time in the United Kingdom, where she devoted her efforts to the International Socialists and the Socialist Workers Party.