The Subject of Prostitution

Reviews / Votes

'Most debates about regulating prostitution assume that feminists all want to use criminal law to punish male customers and 'send a message' that prostitution exploits women. In this important and timely book, Jane Scoular develops an analysis of sex work laws, including anti-trafficking efforts, that is feminist but rejects the use of coercive law. Scoular's nuanced approach is a breath of fresh air, and should be read both by feminists and by anyone interested in criminal law and criminal justice policy' - Mariana Valverde, University of Toronto, Canada.

'A clear, incisive scrutiny of law's historical role in shaping and responding the prostitute as sinful, diseased, abused or rights bearing. Scoular shows how law matters less by what it formally says than by what it does. Her careful Foucauldian study exposes the complexity and contingency of sex work as an object of study that has generated so much tension and contradiction in the past and present. Essential reading for scholars, policy makers, and engaged citizens who want to break the stalemate between entrenched positions on prostitution as "forced and free" -- a first step to exploiting legal mechanisms towards the "unachievable goal of justice.' - Judith R. Walkowitz, Professor Emerita of History, Johns Hopkins University 'Most debates about regulating prostitution assume that feminists all want to use criminal law to punish male customers and 'send a message' that prostitution exploits women. In this important and timely book, Jane Scoular develops an analysis of sex work laws, including anti-trafficking efforts, that is feminist but rejects the use of coercive law. Scoular's nuanced approach is a breath of fresh air, and should be read both by feminists and by anyone interested in criminal law and criminal justice policy' - Mariana Valverde, University of Toronto, Canada.

'A clear, incisive scrutiny of law's historical role in shaping and responding the prostitute as sinful, diseased, abused or rights bearing. Scoular shows how law matters less by what it formally says than by what it does. Her careful Foucauldian study exposes the complexity and contingency of sex work as an object of study that has generated so much tension and contradiction in the past and present. Essential reading for scholars, policy makers, and engaged citizens who want to break the stalemate between entrenched positions on prostitution as "forced and free" -- a first step to exploiting legal mechanisms towards the "unachievable goal of justice.' - Judith R. Walkowitz, Professor Emerita of History, Johns Hopkins University

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