Southeast Asian sex workers are stereotypically
understood as passive victims of the political economy, and
submissive to western men. The advent of HIV/AIDS only compounds this imagem, as sex workers come to represent the victims of, and vectors for, a deadly virus. From sensationalist
stories of Bangkok bar girls to United Nations conventions on global sex trafficking, the media, activists and academics alike condemn uneven processes of economic development and
uneven relations of power in the sale of sex. Whilst the goal of such commentary may be to transform the economic and social relationships that make sex tourism a reality, the stereotypical images it produces often bear little resemblance to the everyday experience of sex work. Sex Work in Southeast Asia is a cultural critique of HIV/AIDS prevention programmes targetting sex tourism industries in Southeast Asia. Drawing on experiences of community-based organisations, national governments and emerging opinions from the international prostitutes rights movement, it highlights how feminist and postcolonial politics shape practices of global AIDS prevention. Women in the industry until now have rarely been included in the dialogue, so in this book they are given voice to reveal their own conceptions of working in the sex industry. By juxtaposing practical, contemporary issues of AIDS prevention with current theories of subjectivity and identity, Sex Work in Southeast Asia posits a new place for a speaking sex worker subject. This book will be vital up-to-date
research for scholars in cultural, political, social and urban geography, as well as in development and gender studies.
By:
Lisa Law
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: No.2
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 430g
ISBN: 9780415218054
ISBN 10: 0415218055
Series: Routledge Pacific Rim Geographies
Pages: 158
Publication Date: 22 June 2000
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Primary
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction 2. Rethinking the prostitute subject: bodies, subjectivity and space 3. Cartographies of desire: mapping Southeast Asian sex industries 4. Negotiating the bar: sex, money and the uneasy politics of third space 5. Beyond the bar: lives, community and transient identities 6. Sex work, HIV/AIDS and blame: mandatory HIV antibody testing 7. Prostitute victim/sex worker agent: the global discourse of NGOs 8. Conclusion
Lisa Law is Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the Gender Relations Project, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.
