Brokered Subjects - Sex, Trafficking, and the Politics of Freedom

Brokered Subjects digs deep into the accepted narratives of sex trafficking to reveal the troubling assumptions that have shaped both right- and left-wing agendas around sexual violence. Drawing on years of in-depth fieldwork, Elizabeth Bernstein sheds light not only on trafficking but also on the broader structures that meld the ostensible pursuit of liberation with contemporary techniques of power. Rather than any meaningful commitment to the safety of sex workers, Bernstein argues, what lies behind our current vision of trafficking victims is a transnational mix of putatively humanitarian militaristic interventions, feel-good capitalism, and what she terms carceral feminism: a feminism compatible with police batons.

About the author

Elizabeth Bernstein is professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies and of sociology at Barnard College, Columbia University, and the author of Temporarily Yours: Intimacy, Authenticity, and the Commerce of Sex.

Summary

An analysis of sex trafficking that shows that the public concern for it tends to ignore the actual sex workers involved and instead focus on purportedly humanitarian interventions that mesh comfortably with the modern capitalist and judicial state.

Product details

• Authors: Elizabeth Bernstein, Bernstein Elizabeth
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.08.2018
• EAN: 9780226573779
• ISBN: 978-0-226-57377-9
• No. of pages: 304
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Sociology, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Human Rights, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Criminology, Human rights & civil liberties law, LAW / Civil Rights, Social issues & processes, Sociology: sexual relations, Gender studies: women, Sex and sexuality, social aspects, Crime and criminology, Crime & criminology, Gender studies: women and girls, Law: Human rights and civil liberties, Sexual Behaviour, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Sexuality