Books
Sex
at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry.
London: Zed Books, 2007.
Trabajar en la industria del sexo, y otros tópicos migratorios.
San Sebastián, Basque Country: Gakoa, 2005
Editor, The Cultural Study of Commercial Sex. Special edition
of Sexualities, 10, 4, 2007. Introduction
by Laura Agustín.
What reviewers say about Sex at the Margins
The
New Statesman, 27 March 2008
http://www.newstatesman.com/200803270046
The
Erotic Review, January 2008
http://www.eroticreviewmagazine.org/issues/article.asp?article=216
'Sex
at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work
and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary
sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of
sexuality.' --
Lisa Adkins, Goldsmiths, University of London
'In restoring those living on the fringes of western societies to
their full humanity, this invigorating book undermines our stereotypes
and provides a challenging but unforgettable picture.' -- Jeffrey
Weeks, London South Bank University
'Sex at the Margins elegantly demonstrates that what happens to poor
immigrant working women from the Global South when they "'leave
home for sex" is neither a tragedy nor the panacea of finding
the promised land. Above all, Agustín shows that the moralizing
bent of most government and NGO programs have little to do with these
womens' experiences and wishes. This book questions some of our most
cherished modern assumptions, and shows that a different ethics of
concern is possible.' -- Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina
Radio Interviews
NY's
WBAI - 15 November 2007
(double-click on the 2nd icon to the right to download)
http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html
BBC
Radio 4 Thinking Allowed, November 2007
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/thinkingallowed/thinkingallowed_20071212.shtml
KPFK
radio Los Angeles, January 2008
http://www.suziweissman.com/?q=node/165
BBC
Woman's Hour, 16 May 2006,
World
Cup Prostitutes’
Web Interviews and Discussions
Susie
Bright, October 2007
http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2007/10/sex-at-the-marg.html
Reason Magazine, December 2007
http://www.reason.com/news/show/124093.html
Spiked.com
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4389/
New
York Times video opinion page video blog:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=588a2dc1e04102d5542db2a9fac6c7085bc1e08e
Read other
articles by Laura Agustin (non-academic - see below for
academic)
Well-meaning interference - What's Wrong with the 'Trafficking' Crusade?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday 1 July 2007
http://www.whrnet.org/docs/perspective-philly-0708.html
The Sex in 'Sex Trafficking' American Sexuality Autumn 2007
http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=794
Introducing
Sex at the Margins. Development., 50, 4, 2007
Contributing
to ‘Development’: Money Made Selling Sex.
Research for Sex Work, 9, 8-11, 2006
Europeans
Confused About Sex and Rights, Say Migrant Workers. Global
Alliance Against Trafficking in Women Newsletter, December, 35-37,
2004
Alternate
Ethics, or: Telling Lies to Researchers. Research for Sex
Work, 7, 6-7, 2004
Sex,
Gender and Migrations: Facing Up to Ambiguous Realities. Soundings,
23, 84-98, 2003
Forget
Victimisation: Granting Agency to Migrants. Development,
46.3, 30-36, 2003
Challenging
‘Place’: Leaving Home for Sex. Development,
45.1, 110-116, 2002
The
(crying) Need for Different Kinds of Research. Research for
Sex Work, 5, 30-32, 2002
Sex
workers and Violence Against Women: Utopic Visions or Battle of the
Sexes? Development, 44.3, 107-110, 2001
The
Em- in Empowerment, Research for Sex Work, 3, 15-16,
2001
With Jo Weldon. The
Sex Sector: A Victory for Diversity Global Network for Reproductive
Rights for Women, Spring, 31-34, 1999
Refereed
Journal Articles
Questioning
Solidarity: Outreach with Migrants Who Sell Sex. Sexualities,
10, 4, 2007-October
The
Disappearing of a Migration Category: Migrants Who Sell Sex.
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32, 1, 29-47, 2006
The
Cultural Study of Commercial Sex. Sexualities, 8, 5,
621-34, 2005
Migrants
in the Mistress’s House: Other Voices in the “Trafficking”
Debate. Social Politics, 12, 1, 96-117, 2005
Helping
Women Who Sell Sex: The Construction of Benevolent Identities.
Rhizomes, 10, special edition on Neo-Liberal Governmentality:
Technologies of the Self & Governmental Conduct, H. Ren, ed.,
2005
A
Migrant World of Services. Social Politics, 10, 3, 377-396,
2003
Book Chapters
Money in the Margins: Migrants in the Sex Industry, in Livelihoods
at the Margins: Surviving the Streets, J. Staples, ed. Walnut
Creek CA: Left Coast Press, 2007.
A Migrant World of Services, in Gendered Borders: Women and Immigration
Law in Europe, S. van Walsum and T. Spijkerbroek, eds. London:
Routledge/Glass House Press, 2007
Migration and Mobility. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Prostitution
and Sex Work. Phoenix AZ: Greenwood, 2007
The
Conundrum of Women’s Agency: Migration and the Sex Industry.
In Sex Work Now, M. O’Neill and R. Campbell, eds, 116-40.
Cullompton: Willan, 116-40, 2006
Still
Challenging “Place”: Sex, Money and Agency in Women’s
Migrations. In Women and the Politics of Place, A. Escobar
and W. Harcourt, eds., 221-33. Bloomfield CT: Kumarian Press, 2005
At
Home in the Street: Questioning the Desire to Help and Save. In
Controlling Sex: The Regulation of Intimacy and Identity.
E. Bernstein and L. Shaffner, eds., 67-82. New York: Routledge Perspectives
on Gender, 2004
Daring
Border-crossers: A Different Vision of Migrant Women. In Sex
Work, Health and Mobility in Europe, S. Day and H. Ward, eds.,
85-94. London: Kegan Paul, 2004
They
Speak, But Who Listens? In Women@Internet: Creating New Cultures
in Cyberspace, W. Harcourt, ed., 149-161. London: Zed Books,
1999
Book Reviews by Laura Agustín
Review of Love for Sale: A Global History of Prostitution,
N. Ringdal and Female Prostitution in Costa Rica: Historical Perspectives,
1880-1930, A. Hayes. Women's
History Review, 2007
Review of Illicit
and Illegal: Sex, regulation and social control, Joanna
Phoenix and Sarah Oerton. Journal of Social Policy, 36, 1,
173-4, 2005
Review
of The Suffering of the Immigrant, Abdelmalek Sayad.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 29.3,
703-4, 2005
Review
of The Politics of Prostitution, Joyce Outshoorn, ed.
Labour/Le Travail, 55, 313-315, 2005
Technical Reports
Action
against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children.
Geneva: ILO, 2000
CASTELLANO
Libro
Trabajar en la industria del sexo, y otros tópicos migratorios.
San Sebastián, Basque Country: Gakoa. Pedidos: hiruga01@sarenet.es,
2005
Capítulos de libro
Cruzafronteras
atrevidas. En Mujeres extranjeras en prisión, M-J. Miranda,
ed., 91-110. Madrid: Universidad Complutense, 2005
Lo
no hablado: deseos, sentimientos y la búsqueda de “pasárselo
bien”. En Trabajadoras del sexo: derechos, migraciones
y tráfico en el siglo XXI, R. Osborne, ed., 181-191. Barcelona:
Bellaterra, 2004
La
familia española, la industria del sexo y las migrantes. En Sexualidades:
Diversidad y control social, O. Guasch and O. Viñuales, eds.,
259-275. Barcelona: Bellaterra, 2003
Trabajadores migrantes en la industria del sexo. En Tráfico y
prostitución: experiencias de mujeres africanas, 5-20. Bilbao:
Likiniano Elkartea, 2003
Mujeres
inmigrantes ocupadas en la industria del sexo. En Mujer, inmigración
y trabajo, Colectivo IOÉ, ed., 647-716. Madrid: IMSERSO, 2001
Artículos
de revista y periódico
Editorial
principal, Más
allá de la victimización, La Vanguardia,
Barcelona, domingo 25 junio, 24-25, 2006
Atreverse
a cruzar fronteras: Migrantes como protagonistas. Viento
Sur, núm 87, 73-81, 2006
La industria del
sexo, la migración y la familia europea.’ Cadernos PAGU,
25. Núcleo de Estudos de Gênero-PAGU, Unicamp, Brasil, 2005
Olvidar
la victimización: Los migrantes como protagonistas. Development,
46.3, 30-36, 2003
La
necesidad (apremiante) de diferentes tipos de investigación.
Research for Sex Work, 5, 30-32, 2002
Cuestionar
el concepto del ‘lugar’: La migración es algo más que
una pérdida. Development, 45.1, 128-35, 2002
Trabajo
sexual y violencia contra las mujeres: ¿Visiones utópicas o guerra
de sexos? Development, 44.3, 107-110, 2001
Trabajar
en la industria del sexo. OFRIM Suplementos, junio, 155-172
and at http://nodo50.org/mujeresred/laura_agustin-1.html,
2000
DEUTSCH
Stüttgen,
Tim. 2008. »Nicht alle empfinden das Gleiche über Sex.«
Im
Gespräch mit Laura Maria Agustin über MigrantInnen, die
Sex verkaufen und
diejenigen, die ihnen angeblich helfen wollen. testcard #17: Sex
Beiträge zur Popgeschichte. http://www.testcard.de/titel.php?pid=743
FRANÇAIS
Remettre
en question la notion de ‘place’: Quitter son pays pour
le sexe, ConStellations, 8, 1. Trad. Stella,
Montreal, 2003
Cessons
de parler de victimes, reconnaissons aux migrants leur capacité d’agir.
Genre, nouvelle division internationale du travail et migrations,
Cahiers genre et développement, nº 5, C. Verschuur et F. Reysoo,
eds. Geneva: L’Harmattan, IUED-EFI, 2005
ITALIANO
Le
migrazioni delle donne come ristrutturazione delle relazioni di genere,
trad. Ada Trifirò, 2003
SERBIAN
Doprinos
„Razvoju“: Novac zaraden prodajom seksualnih usluga.
Seks, rad i drustvo. Projekat na temu seksualnog rada i seksualnosti,
2007
Foro
electrónico: Industria del Sexo
En 2001 creé la lista de correo ‘Industria del Sexo’,
utilizando las muchas direcciones que había recogido durante mis vivencias
y viajes por América Latina y luego por Europa. Tenía la idea, desde
hacía tiempo, de abrir un espacio para las personas que participan,
de alguna manera, en proyectos dirigidos a quienes ejercen el trabajo
sexual. Mucha gente de ONG me decía que no era posible porque ‘esas
mujeres’ no tienen tiempo o interés, que eran demasiado pobres
para tener computadoras, que no entendían la tecnología o que eran
analfabetas. La única forma de conectarlas, me decían, era por medio
de las ONGs, que quizá estarían dispuestas a ofrecer una de sus máquinas,
de vez en cuando, a alguien que quería participar en tal lista. Por
varias razones, no acepté nunca esos impedimentos.
Conozco los usos de las computadoras de personas no privilegiadas
en muchas partes de América Latina. ¿Alguien no ha visto un grupo
de jóvenes reunido alrededor de una sóla máquina en un cibercafe?
Al no mencionar que ahora, en muchos lugares, el acceso a Internet
está disponible en cabinas telefónicas, en postes en la calle, en
centros comerciales, oficinas de correo y bibliotecas públicas—a
veces gratuitamente. Uno de los objetivos del proyecto es fomentar
la independencia de l@s trabajador@s sexuales de una dependencia de
las ONGs, por lo menos respecto a una lista de correo.
En la lista escribimos en todo idioma romance; llegan mensajes en
castellano, francés, portugués, catalán e italiano. Aunque no es fácil
para algunas personas descifrar mensajes no escritos en su propia
lengua, para muchas ser nativo en una lengua les facilita el entendimiento
de las otras. Armé la lista para estos idiomas porque si bien existen
otras listas con el mismo tema, se dan en inglés, y simplemente no
todo el mundo puede o quiere escribir en ese idioma.
Al otro lado, no quería limitar la participación geográficamente.
De hecho, otro de los objectivos de la lista era invitar a los europeos
a escuchar a los latinos, quienes en esta problemática tienen mucha
experiencia fuerte, linda y más creativa que lo que se ve en Europa.
Ese objetivo se ponía más urgente hoy día cuando el pánico sobre las
migraciones a ese continente, y la histeria sobre el ‘tráfico’,
está llevando a propuestas jurídicas y sociales retrógradas. En Europa,
la información que se difunde sobre la gente migrante es mala, pero
aún más cuando esa gente trabaja en la industria del sexo.
La lista ha servido para juntarse a personas con metas en común. Con
el propósito de que un grupo de nosotros se reuniese durante el Congreso
Internacional sobre el SIDA, en julio pasado, en Barcelona, dos propuestas
se escribieron, una en España y la otra transnacional entre latinos,
y las dos fueron financiadas. Todo eso se consiguió en menos de seis
meses—un verdadero logro posibilitado por esta tecnología.
En la lista participan investigadores, médicos, educadores de calle,
personal de ONG y de gobiernos, miembros de asociaciones de migrantes
latinos en Europe, y monjas. Pero cada vez la proporción de éstos
frente a los y las trabajadoras mismos se disminuye, y cada vez más
hablan l@s trabajador@s sobre sus propias metas. Cada semana paso
un par de horas en busca de miembros nuevos; si alguien que ve este
anuncio tiene interés, por favor, escríbeme. Vale la pena saber de
antemano que la lista está conceptualizada para conversaciones prácticas,
para compartir informaciones, contactos, tácticas y dudas pero no
para discutir ideologías (por ejemplo, si ‘la prostitución’
está bien o no). Va dirigida a personas que ya tienen algún trabajo
relacionado con la industria.
Email
List Industria del Sexo
In 2001, I created the email list ‘Industria del Sexo’,
using the many addresses I had collected during my years living and
travelling in Latin America and later in Europe. I had had the idea
for a long time of starting a list for people who participate, in
any way, in the sex industry, including in social projects aimed at
sex workers. Many people from NGOs said it wouldn’t work, because
‘those women’ have no time or interest, are too poor to
own computers, don’t understand technology or are illiterate.
The only way to connect them, I was told, was through these same NGOs,
who might be willing, once in a while, to offer one of their machines
to a sex worker who wanted to participate. For various reasons, I
never accepted those arguments.
One common way for non-privileged people to use computers in Latin
America can be seen in the groups gathered arround single machines
in cybercafés. Not to mention that now, in many places, access to
the Internet is available in telephone booths, shopping centres, post
offices and public libraries—sometimes without charge. Besides,
one of my objectives was to foment the independence of sex workers
in general, from NGOs as from anyone else not strictly necessary to
something they want to do. So I work online looking for participants,
and doing a little general animation and coaching, if necessary, about
email techniques and etiquette. The result is we have a number of
sex workers who have learned to use a computer and email with the
express goal of participating in the list, and who feel very satisfied
about it!
Participating in the list are researchers, medical and religious personnel,
street educators, NGO and government employees and members of migrant
associations in Europe. But increasingly, the proportion of these
to sex workers is smaller. And increasingly, sex workers talk about
their own politics and desires.
In the list we write in any and all romance languages; messages commonly
arrive in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Catalán and Italian. Though
it’s not easy for some people to decode messages not written
in their own language, for others it’s quite possible. I set
up the list for romance languages because all the other general lists
available are in English, and not everyone in the world can or wants
to write in that language.
On the other hand, I didn’t want to limit participation geographically.
In fact, another of the list’s objectives was to invite Europeans
to listen to Latin Americans, who have a good deal of experience to
contribute to sex-worker organising, much of it stronger and more
creative than what is typically seen in Europe. That goal has become
more urgent now, when panic about migrations and hysteria about ‘trafficking’
is leading to retrograde legal and social proposals. The information
about migrants that is generally available in Europe is bad, and even
worse when they work in the sex industry.
The list has served to get people together with common goals. When
a number of us wanted to get together during the AIDS Congress in
Barcelona in 2002, we wrote two different proposals, one in Spain
and the other in South America, and both were funded. All this happened
in less than six months—a real achievement made possible by
technology.
If anyone seeing this is interested in joining, please write to me.
The list is conceived for practical conversations, to share information,
contacts and doubts; to join, you have to have a job related in some
way to the sex industry (that means everyone who reads this newsletter,
probably). And speaking of romance languages, we have no one writing
in Rumanian yet.
Laura Agustín
laura@nodo50.org
webpage
by Carol Leigh, BAYSWAN