Collaborative Research Networks
Organizers
Menaka Raguparan, Julie Ham, Alex Nelson, Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Cherisse Francis
This CRN seeks to broaden the conversation on sex work by bridging it with considerations of issues relating to sex in other labour contexts, bringing together socio-legal scholars and experts examining the intersections of sex and work. Its aims are: to bridge and enrich empirical and critical research on sex work with research on the regulation of sex(uality) in ‘mainstream’ workplaces; to facilitate comparisons between working conditions, labour standards, workers’ rights in sex work and ‘mainstream’ labour; to reflect on how regulatory frameworks governing sex(uality) in the workplace help and hinder workers in diverse contexts; and to locate cross-national and geographically specific regulatory discourses and approaches governing sexuality, sexualisation, and sexual harassment or exploitation in the workplace. To this end we encourage the participation of researchers and experts focusing on the sex industry, ‘mainstream’ labour, or comparative studies between the two.
The criminalization of the sex industry and the marginalization of people working therein is a timely and pressing public issue. With this CRN we hope to collaboratively work toward finding innovative solutions to the issues that these workers face, at the same time contributing to the scholarly community by filling a gap in the Law and Society network. Finally, this CRN seeks to disseminate and showcase socio-legal research relating to sex work and other intersections of sex and work; it is an exciting opportunity for scholars examining different aspects of sex and work to network and to develop their academic careers by disseminating their research.