The Coercion of Trafficked Workers by Kathleen Kim
Theories of coercion exist across multiple disciplines to explicate the ability of one actor, the coercer, to diminish the free will of another, the coercee, in the absence of overt physical force. A valid claim of coercion places legal blame on the coercer or relinquishes the coercee from legal responsibility for a coerced act or omission. Defining the point at which coercion occurs, however, is the conceptually more difficult task. Recently, coercion has emerged as a significant source of...
Read MoreThe Social Construction of Sex Trafficking: Ideology and Institutionalization of a Moral Crusade
By Ronald Weizer Abstract The issue of sex trafficking has become increasingly politicized in recent years due to the efforts of an influential moral crusade. This article examines the social construction of sex trafficking (and prostitution more generally) in the discourse of leading activists and organizations within the crusade, and concludes that the central claims are problematic, unsubstantiated, or demonstrably false. The analysis documents the increasing endorsement and...
Read MoreThe Mythology of Prostitution: Advocacy Research and Public Policy
By Ronald Weitzer Abstract Over the past decade, public policies on prostitution and other types of sex work have been increasingly contested, both in academia and in popular debates. One perspective, the oppression paradigm, is increasingly reflected in media reporting on the sex industry and is steadily being articulated by government officials in the USA, Europe, and elsewhere. The proliferation of myths based on the oppression paradigm is responsible for the rise of a resurgent...
Read MoreSex trafficking and the sex industry: The need for evidence-based theory and legislation
By Ronald Weitzer From the introduction: Under U.S. law, sex trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.”1 To be punishable, the offense must involve a “severe form” of trafficking involving (1) a person under age eighteen who has been induced to perform a commercial sex act or (2) an adult who has been so induced by the use of “force, fraud, or coercion.”2 Adults who sell sex...
Read MoreDisciplining Globalization: International Law, Illegal Trade, and the Case of Narcotics by Chantal Thomas
This Article is the first in a series of studies of the globalization of illicit markets. My theses are as follows: First, the increase in international trade in illicit products and services parallels the growth in international trade more generally that accompanies the phenomenon of globalization. Second, at the same time that most international trade law has moved toward a posture of liberalization, there has been a movement to strengthen the prohibition and punishment of trade in illicit...
Read MoreGlobalization and the Reproduction of Hierarchy by Chantal Thomas
Over the past decade, the federal government has increasingly taken steps to lift barriers to trade and financial flows into and out of the United States. This liberalization of U.S. economic barriers has been mirrored by similar efforts of governments around the world. These steps, together with gains in technology, have ushered in an era of “globalization.”‘ The global liberalization of economic flows, according to classical economic theory, should maximize the efficient...
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