Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

“Troubling Terms and the Sex Trades” assembles writings from scholars, sex workers, and activists, each of whom interrogates a troubled term and its place in the history of prostitution. This introduction discusses the “keyword” tradition of historical genealogies advanced by Raymond Williams and its utility for assessing critical categories that inform historical studies and current political debates on prostitution. The essay reviews the historiography of prostitution as it has focused on troubling terms, mostly centered specifically on the categories of sex work and trafficking. The essay goes on to introduce the components of this special issue: the first section, Reflections, presents short first-person accounts by sex worker activists, advocates, and scholars regarding a critical keyword they have worked with or resisted. The second section, Features, presents longer essays that interrogate the terms sex work, demand, white slavery, red-light district, restricted area, and decriminalization. Finally, Curated Spaces explores the history of the red umbrella as a visual term that has developed as a global symbol for sex worker rights.