Tag: prostitution

• October 22, 2017

  Reviews of my book

  American Journal of Sociology: “well-researched and compelling,” “Mattson’s use of key informant interviews provides a specific and substantial contribution to our understanding of how social problems are articulated ‘in the trenches’ by activists and bureaucrats.” European Union Studies Association Review: “intriguing,” “striking insights,” “an absorbing and welcome contribution to prostitution policy analysis,” “truly innovative in […]
• July 24, 2016

  ILiADs 2016

  Attending ILiADs this week to work on http://onprostitution.oberlincollegelibrary.org  with my Oberlin College colleagues Libby Murphy and Meghan Mitchell.
• February 8, 2016

  Page 99 test for my book

  Today I’m the guest blogger for the Page 99 Test, a project by Marshal Zeringue for the Campaign for the American Reader. My page 99 starts with “smash a brothel cartel;” you can see the rest of what I wrote on his blog. Check it out!
• January 18, 2016

  Guest essayist on Policy Trajectories

  Today I’m the featured essayist on Policy Trajectories, the official organ of the Comparative-Historical section of the American Sociological Association. The essay is about how prostitution policy presaged the unraveling of the European Union. Read it out here, and check out the company I’m in! Seriously star-struck.
• January 8, 2016

  How do Black Finns celebrate hockey victories?

  By screaming, stripping in -10°F, and sauna, of course: the same as everyone else: From Dosdela‘s Instagram. On January 6th, Finland’s Young Lions won the 2016 World Juniors Hockey championship over Russia in overtime before a home audience. The title comes on the heels of the National Ringette Team winning its world championship the day […]
• January 4, 2016

  Against moral panic (for cultural politics)

  Pundits, sociologists, and activists frequently use the term “moral panic” to describe what they perceive as a public overreaction to an issue (or non-issue). Examples include “Prostitution and Human Trafficking – The Anatomy of a Moral Panic,” “What’s Flakka and is it Real? A Guide to the New Moral Panic Drugs,” From Miasma to Ebola: […]
• December 17, 2015

  International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

  December 17th is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Pause a moment today to consider how the stigma against the women and men called whores and sluts endangers their lives, and the ways in which those everyday insults justify violence from police, partners, clients, strangers, and family members. International Day to End […]
• December 7, 2015

  Most downloaded, now Free: The Modern Career of the Oldest Profession

  My article on metaphor theory and the history of the phrase “oldest profession” was the second “most downloaded” social science article for Palgrave in 2015. Now it’s FREE for everyone! I wrote about it here. I’m going to credit the bump from the ‘students’ of Hot Dog University, a collaboration between Belt Magazine and Happy […]
• November 30, 2015

  Book: How prostitution presaged the failure of Europe

  My book The Cultural Politics of European Prostitution Reform: Governing Loose Women was published by Palgrave in 2016. Is the European Project Falling Apart? asks one of several headlines as the European refugee crisis moves into chronic mode. Where the Greek debt crisis exposed the problems of the Eurozone currency union, the refugee crisis shows how […]
• June 15, 2015

  Article: The Modern Career of “The Oldest Profession,” and the Social Embeddedness of Metaphors

  This article was fun to write, and it’s even more fun to play with Google n-grams to track the usage of metaphors about prostitution in the UK vs US (such as this or this). Among many nuggets I uncovered: Rudyard Kipling coined the metaphor “the most ancient profession!” “Sex work” initially referred to sexuality research! […]