Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil
Brazil has made international headlines for the government’s inept and irresponsible response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, sex worker activists have once again taken on an essential role in responding to the pandemic amidst State absences and abuses. Drawing on the theoretical framewor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/1/2 |
| _version_ | 1797543629217071104 |
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| author | Betania Santos Indianarae Siqueira Cristiane Oliveira Laura Murray Thaddeus Blanchette Carolina Bonomi Ana Paula da Silva Soraya Simões |
| author_facet | Betania Santos Indianarae Siqueira Cristiane Oliveira Laura Murray Thaddeus Blanchette Carolina Bonomi Ana Paula da Silva Soraya Simões |
| author_sort | Betania Santos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Brazil has made international headlines for the government’s inept and irresponsible response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, sex worker activists have once again taken on an essential role in responding to the pandemic amidst State absences and abuses. Drawing on the theoretical framework of necropolitics, we trace the gendered, sexualized, and racialized dimensions of how prostitution and work have been (un)governed in Brazil and how this has framed sex worker activists’ responses to COVID-19. As a group of scholars and sex worker activists based in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, we specifically explore the idea of sex workers as “essential workers”, but also of sex work as, essentially, work, demonstrating complicities, differences, and congruencies in how sex workers see what they do and who their allies in the context of the 21st century’s greatest health crisis to date. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:48:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-55e932b4a63f46249237ca43fd86e8a7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:48:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-55e932b4a63f46249237ca43fd86e8a72023-11-21T02:22:02ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602020-12-01101210.3390/socsci10010002Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in BrazilBetania Santos0Indianarae Siqueira1Cristiane Oliveira2Laura Murray3Thaddeus Blanchette4Carolina Bonomi5Ana Paula da Silva6Soraya Simões7Associação Mulheres Guerreiras (Warrior Women Association), Jardim Itatinga, Campinas, São Paulo CEP 13052-444, BrazilColetivo Puta Davida, Rio de Janeiro CEP 20270-200, BrazilIndependent Sex Worker, Vila Mimosa, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro CEP 20270-200, BrazilColetivo Puta Davida, Rio de Janeiro CEP 20270-200, BrazilColetivo Puta Davida, Rio de Janeiro CEP 20270-200, BrazilCampinas State University (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo CEP 13083-896, BrazilColetivo Puta Davida, Rio de Janeiro CEP 20270-200, BrazilColetivo Puta Davida, Rio de Janeiro CEP 20270-200, BrazilBrazil has made international headlines for the government’s inept and irresponsible response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, sex worker activists have once again taken on an essential role in responding to the pandemic amidst State absences and abuses. Drawing on the theoretical framework of necropolitics, we trace the gendered, sexualized, and racialized dimensions of how prostitution and work have been (un)governed in Brazil and how this has framed sex worker activists’ responses to COVID-19. As a group of scholars and sex worker activists based in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, we specifically explore the idea of sex workers as “essential workers”, but also of sex work as, essentially, work, demonstrating complicities, differences, and congruencies in how sex workers see what they do and who their allies in the context of the 21st century’s greatest health crisis to date.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/1/2prostitutionCOVID-19sex worker activismlabor lawsBrazil |
| spellingShingle | Betania Santos Indianarae Siqueira Cristiane Oliveira Laura Murray Thaddeus Blanchette Carolina Bonomi Ana Paula da Silva Soraya Simões Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil Social Sciences prostitution COVID-19 sex worker activism labor laws Brazil |
| title | Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil |
| title_full | Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil |
| title_fullStr | Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil |
| title_short | Sex Work, Essential Work: A Historical and (Necro)Political Analysis of Sex Work in Times of COVID-19 in Brazil |
| title_sort | sex work essential work a historical and necro political analysis of sex work in times of covid 19 in brazil |
| topic | prostitution COVID-19 sex worker activism labor laws Brazil |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/1/2 |
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