Dealing in Desire

International comparative explorations of prostitution policies: lessons from two European projects

“…This may explain why comparative designs have recently become more significant in the field in an attempt to escape from 'selfsealing' analyses and to move closer to a holistic picture of how prostitution is regulated in different contexts and at different times and scales. Some of this work looks at similarities and variations in the organization and regulation of commercial sex across sub-national administrative and geographical entities, such as red-light districts, cities, states and regions (for example, Sanders and Campbell 2007;Sullivan 2010;Weitzer and Boels 2015), while other scholars take as their units of analysis different sex market segments within the same country (Hoang 2015) or city (Bernstein 1999). These examples show that not all comparative research in the field is cross-national, however far more prevalent are studies that develop comparisons between countries and with a focus on the regulation of commercial sex.…”

Invading ethnography: A queer of color reflexive practice

“…Put another way, a normatively gendered straight white man might find that it is easier to simultaneously take up space in a white nationalist and white anti-racist group than it is for a legibly queer white man or person of color. Another example might be Hoang’s (2015) study of how hostess bars facilitate economic transactions for high wealth East Asian businessmen, Western businessmen, and budget tourists. It can be assumed that Hoang’s (2015) ability to occupy space in different hostess bars was facilitated by her embodiment of heterosexual femininity.…”

“…Another example might be Hoang’s (2015) study of how hostess bars facilitate economic transactions for high wealth East Asian businessmen, Western businessmen, and budget tourists. It can be assumed that Hoang’s (2015) ability to occupy space in different hostess bars was facilitated by her embodiment of heterosexual femininity. A legibly queer tom, or masculine woman, might not have the same kind of legitimacy or legibility in a hostess bar (for more on toms see Sinnot, 2004).…”

De–Exoticizing Ghetto Poverty: On the Ethics of Representation in Urban Ethnography

“…A poignant critique in these debates has been the “jungle‐book trope” (Rios ) or “cowboy ethnography” (Hoang ) complaint, wherein ethnographers are faulted for implicitly or openly representing the field site as exotically dangerous. This critique is not unique to sociological studies of U.S. poverty.…”

“…One thoughtful critique is the idea that outsider ethnographies have painted one‐dimensional portrayals of poor black and Latino communities. This critique has been mounted by minority, not white ethnographers, scholars who, rather than launching invectives or proposing a ban on middle‐class whites from studying people of color, have instead shown great seriousness in their commentary and work (Jones ; Rios ; Hoang ). If we believe that studies of the urban poor are important, and that both insiders and outsiders will inevitably undertake them, then we must take stock of what these scholars see that their white colleagues do not—take seriously that writing about such communities represents ethical decisions that “ghetto ethnography” has too often handled poorly.…”