Abusing Vulnerability? Contemporary Law and Policy Responses to Sex Work in the UK

There has been an exponential rise in use of the term vulnerability across a number of political and policy arenas, including child protection, sexual offences, poverty, development, care for the elderly, patient autonomy, globalisation, war, public health and ecology. Yet despite its increasing deployment, the exact meaning and parameters of this concept remain somewhat elusive. In this article, we explore the interaction of two very different strategies??one in which vulnerability is relied upon by those seeking improved social justice as a mechanism by which to identify, problematise and compel state responses to a universal condition of precarious dependency, and the other in which it is used as a category of neo-liberal governance which legitimates state encroachment whilst constructing ??vulnerable?? individuals as ??risk-managers?? who must behave ??responsibly?? in the face of disadvantage. We suggest that the co-existence of these divergent approaches highlights the fluidity and malleability of the concept of vulnerability. Using sex work as a specific case study, we explore the ways in which vulnerability bears multiple meanings, and has been used in recent times in the furtherance of moralistic and regressive agendas, which collude with, rather than challenge, state power. Without seeking to reject the label or normative import of vulnerability, we call, therefore, for a more circumspect approach to its usage, and a more critical evaluation of recent claims which hail it as a mechanism, preferable to the conventional use of equality paradigms, by which to secure progressive feminist outcomes.     

Harbouring the illicit: borderlands and human trafficking in South East Asia

The unique environment of borderlands in mainland and insular South East Asia has facilitated the growth of human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation. Organised crime groups have seized upon opportunities offered in these geographic locales to develop this illicit industry. This article examines the dynamics of human trafficking in three diverse border areas in the region: the Cambodian-Thai border; Indonesia-Singapore-Malaysia border; and the Thai-Burmese border. An examination of the unique social and power dynamics of the borderlands and a comparative history of these areas will illustrate how organised crime groups have flourished and engaged in human trafficking to support local border sex industries. This trade preys upon the vulnerable and impoverished living on the fringes of border communities. Weak State institutions, entrenched patronage networks, and distance from central control have made these borderlands ideal for criminals to establish themselves and their illicit activities. These same conditions have made it easy for regional tourists to engage in illicit sex in neighbouring countries with little chance of recrimination.     

Feminist Judgments Projects at the Intersection

Feminist Legal Studies -     

More than an analogy,less than a paradigm: The case of biopolitics and organization theory

The biopolitics and sociobiology literature has g r m substantially in the pst few years. Same of that literature has fairly direct implications for organization theory. This paper examines that bcdy of research, discusses some of the conceptual issues and concludes that at the present time it is the methods, rather than the specific findings of bioplitical research, that have the most prise for application in organization theory.