Sex Work Matters: Beyond Divides
A Conference in Spring

The Sex Work Matters project announces the call for papers for a conference held at the City University of New York and The New School on March 29-30, .

The Sex Work Matters project provides scholars, activists and analysts with a platform for multidisciplinary, cross-institutional exchange of ideas and networking. In addition to featuring high profile leaders and scholars, the conference in March will offer a much-needed opportunity for graduate students, sex workers and activists to enter the debate, present original work and identify areas for collaboration. Additional events organized to complement the conference include the Sex Workers Soiree and other networking opportunities with local organizations and sex workers, roundtable mixers featuring established scholars and activists and 4-6 graduate student panels including faculty and activist commentators.

The Sex Work Matters project invites submissions of abstracts of work exploring the economic, social, cultural, and political aspects of sex work. In the selection process, special attention will be paid to promoting a critical race, gender and class analysis across topics. In addition to theoretical work, especially welcome are narratives, ethnographies, case studies and typologies, e.g. on topics which elsewhere receive less attention, such as male, gay, lesbian or transgender sex work, activists' testimonies, or the emergence of John Schools. Selected papers will be considered for publication in an edited volume following the conference. There will be limited funding for travel scholarships for eligible participants.

Possible Topics
Feminist Issues in Sex Work

• Ethics and Morality
• Art and Sex Work
• The Role of the State and Policy Making
• Sex Workers' Rights and Activism
• Sex and Money: Sex Work and Economics
• Sex Work and Immigration
• Sex Work Careers in the Lifecycle
• Sex Work and the Family
• Issues in Male, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Transsexual Sex Work

Advisors to the project include:

• Prof. Elizabeth Bernstein, Barnard College
• Prof. Sibyl Schwarzenbach, CUNY Graduate Center
• Prof. Patricia Clough, CUNY Graduate Center
• Dr. Melissa Ditmore, Acting Coordinator, Network of Sex Work Projects
• Prof. Lily Ling, The New School
• Prof. Robert Beauregard, The New School

Paper abstracts of no longer than 500 words, a resume and contact information should be sent no later than December 15, 2005 to the project's email address:
[email protected]

For more information, visit our website:
https://sexworkmatters.net/

Alys Willman-Navarro, The New School
Antonia Levy, CUNY Graduate Center