Laura María Agustín is an anthropologist who studies undocumented migration, informal labor markets, trafficking, and the sex industry. Blogging and speaking publicly as the Naked Anthropologist, she is critical of the conflation of the terms "
human trafficking" and "
prostitution". She argues that what she calls the "rescue industry" often ascribes victim status to people (most often women) who have made conscious and rational decisions to migrate knowing they will be selling sex, and who do not consider themselves to be victims. She states that such views on prostitution originate in what she calls "fundamentalist feminism".
[Kerry Howley]
The Myth of the Migrant
''Reason Magazine
''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 50,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the ''Chicago Tribune''.
History
''Reaso ...
'', 26 December 2007 She advocates for a cultural study of commercial sex, a theoretical framework she created in the journal Sexualities in 2005.
[Laura María Agustín (2005)]
The Cultural Study of Commercial Sex
''Sexualities'', Vol 8(5): 681–694
Agustín carried out research on migration and sex work on the Mexico/US Border, in the Caribbean, in South America, and in several European countries.
[ She did participatory research for several years with a range of social actors aiming to help migrants in Spain. She received a ]Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in Cultural Studies and Sociology from the Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
, United Kingdom, in 2004, with Tony Bennett as her supervisor.[
Her first book, ''Trabajar en la industria del sexo, y otros tópicos migratorios'', was published in Spain in 2004 (Gakoa, ). In 2007, she published her second book, ''Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry'' (Zed Books, ). In this book, she argued that contemporary anti-trafficking "crusades" have the effect of restricting international freedom of movement, and she compared today's anti-trafficking feminists with the "bourgeois women" of the 19th century who felt the need to save poor prostitutes, seeing women as weak, easily victimized, and in need of guidance. Agustín does not deny human trafficking or forced prostitution takes place, but, rather, argues that the campaigners against prostitution and undocumented migration over-estimate figures.][Brendan O'Neill]
The myth of trafficking
''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', 27 March 2008
Agustín publishes in Spanish, English, and Swedish. In 2010, she was Visiting Professor in Gender and Migration in the Swiss university system, based at the University of Neuchatel, and participated in the Battle of Ideas in London.
References
External links
Website and Blog of Laura Agustín - the Naked Anthropologist, with list of publications
Guardian Profile
The Sex in Sex Trafficking
by Laura Agustín, in ''American Sexuality'', 28 November 2007
The Shadowy World of Sex Across Borders
by Laura Agustín, in ''The Guardian'', 19 November 2008
Border Thinking
by Laura Agustín, in ''Re-public'', June 2008]
Radio interview with Agustin
15 November 2007
Review of ''Trabajar en la industria del sexo''
Podcast of lecture - Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
* Reviews of ''Sex at the Margins''
*
The myth of trafficking
''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', 27 March 2008
*
Exploding the myth of trafficking
'' Spiked Review of Books'', April 2008
*
All You Need To Know About Sex Trafficking, Harriet
, ''The Erotic Review
''The Erotic Review'', also functioning as TheEroticReview.com, is a review site that ostensibly presents clients' assessments of their experiences with sex workers (referred to as "providers" on the website).
History
The service was first laun ...
'', issue 86, February 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agustin, Laura Maria
Living people
Sex worker activists
Sex industry researchers
Year of birth missing (living people)