Laura María Agustín (Book order)

Laura María Agustín Book order

This author's work delves into the lives of individuals who travel and cross borders for work, often without permission or with forged documents. She explores the experiences of women working as live-in maids or in the sex industry, and men washing dishes, picking fruit, or also selling sex. Her writing avoids generalizations, emphasizing the necessity of deep understanding of individual circumstances before applying any labels. Rather than portraying migrants and sex workers solely as victims, she seeks to offer a more nuanced perspective on their motivations and realities.

Sex at the Margins

Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry

256 pages
9 hours of reading

This groundbreaking book explodes several that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work; that migrants who sell sex are passive victims; and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest.Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' disempowers them. Based on extensive research amongst migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustín, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry. Although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy.Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice.