The Global Political Economy of Sex: Desire, Violence, and Insecurity in Mediterranean Nation States

Download or read book The Global Political Economy of Sex: Desire, Violence, and Insecurity in Mediterranean Nation States written by A. Agathangelou and published by Springer. This book was released on 2004-10-14 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the intersection of the warmth of hearth and home and the dangers of the street lies the tenuous position of women engaged in reproductive labour, those involved in the sex trade and those in domestic positions. These are women who are vulnerable, exploited, and whose dirty work allows for the reproduction of traditional social mores and roles. Yet while they are used to sustain tradition, dialectically they reflect the hyperconnections of globalization through the migration of women, the development of placement 'agencies' that often are little but fronts for transnational crime; and the transfer of money from the developed countries to the oppressed world. This book focuses on the interaction of the global and the local through a close investigation of the political economy of desire and reproduction in three states that blur the line between developed and developing: Greece; Turkey; and Cyprus. These are countries at the crossroads, in flux, whose peripheral siting at the centre of global capitalism provides unusual insight into the dark recesses of patriarchy, paternalism and exploitation.