Elizabeth Bernstein | |
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Born | |
Occupation | Academic |
Awards | Norbert Elias Prize (2009) [1] |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Sociology |
Sub-discipline | Sexuality,gender |
Institutions | Barnard College |
Notable works | Paradoxes of Neoliberalism:Sex,Gender,and Possibilities for Justice (2021),Brokered Subjects:Sex,Trafficking,and the Politics of Freedom (2018),Temporarily Yours:Intimacy,Authenticity,and the Commerce of Sex (2007),Regulating Sex:The Politics of Intimacy and Identity (2004) |
Notable ideas | Carceral feminism |
Elizabeth Bernstein (born 10 October 1968) is an American sociologist who is noted for her studies that focus on women,gender,and sexuality. She is also a professor at Columbia University's Barnard College. [2]
Bernstein completed her B.A.,M.A.,and Ph.D. from the University of California,Berkeley in 2001. [3] [4]
Bernstein is particularly known for her research on sex work and the trafficking of women. [5] In a study,for example,she suggested that sex work can be meaningful for both client and sex worker as it involves a particular form of emotional labor. [6] This was explored in her book Temporarily Yours,which compiled decades of research involving prostitutes and observations made in brothels,police holding tanks,and after interviews with policymakers,and startups. [7]
She is also credited for introducing the term "carceral feminism",which advocates a stricter punishment for sex crimes such as prostitution and sex trafficking. [5] This concept describes how feminist activists have collaborated with Christian evangelicals and the state systems of power to help women. [8] Bernstein explained that this development has led to carceral paradigm of social justice as well as militarized humanitarianism. [8] She criticized this phenomenon in a series of articles noting that the increased criminalization of sex work has disadvantaged people of color as these are the most likely arrested as its offenders. [9]
Aside from gender and sexuality,Bernstein's research and scholarship also focused on the sociology of law,the contemporary social theory as well as the link between the feminist,neoliberal,and evangelical Christian interests,including its role in contemporary U.S. policymaking concerning human trafficking. [10] From 2007 to 2009,Bernstein worked with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). She was part of the project Religion,Gender,and Politics,and completed several studies such as country research report on the United States and The Unhappy Marriage of Religion and Politics:Problems and Pitfalls for Gender Equality (2010). [3]
Bernstein's work has been recognized by the National Science Foundation,the Social Science Research Council,American Association of University Women (AAUW),the Mellon Foundation,and the American Sociological Association. [10]
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts,while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race,class,and sexual orientation. The ideology and movement emerged in the 1960s.
Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services,performances,or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to voluntary sexual transactions;thus,the term does not refer to human trafficking and other coerced or nonconsensual sexual transactions such as child prostitution. The transaction must take place between consenting adults of the legal age and mental capacity to consent and must take place without any methods of coercion,other than payment. The term emphasizes the labor and economic implications of this type of work. Furthermore,some prefer the use of the term because it grants more agency to the sellers of these services.
Catharine Alice MacKinnon is an American feminist legal scholar,activist,and author. She is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School,where she has been tenured since 1990,and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. From 2008 to 2012,she was the special gender adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical,fictional,or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles,experiences,interests,chores,and feminist politics in a variety of fields,such as anthropology and sociology,communication,media studies,psychoanalysis,political theory,home economics,literature,education,and philosophy.
Janice G. Raymond is an American lesbian radical feminist and professor emerita of women's studies and medical ethics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is known for her work against violence,sexual exploitation,and medical abuse of women,and for her controversial work denouncing transsexuality.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is a radical feminist and gender-critical non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking,prostitution,and other forms of commercial sex. It has been described as a "neo-abolitionist lobby group" that represents a "carceral feminist anti-trafficking practice," and has been criticized for essentializing women and promoting a controversial and "ideologically charged" definition of trafficking. It is strongly opposed to the perspectives of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and the sex workers rights movement. It has been linked to anti-trans groups and its Latin American regional branch is a signatory of the manifesto of far-right anti-trans group Women's Declaration International.
The feminist school of criminology is a school of criminology developed in the late 1960s and into the 1970s as a reaction to the general disregard and discrimination of women in the traditional study of crime. It is the view of the feminist school of criminology that a majority of criminological theories were developed through studies on male subjects and focused on male criminality,and that criminologists often would "add women and stir" rather than develop separate theories on female criminality.
Sheila Jeffreys is a former professor of political science at the University of Melbourne,born in England. A lesbian feminist scholar,she analyses the history and politics of human sexuality.
The feminist sex wars,also known as the lesbian sex wars,sex wars or porn wars,are collective debates amongst feminists regarding a number of issues broadly relating to sexuality and sexual activity. Differences of opinion on matters of sexuality deeply polarized the feminist movement,particularly leading feminist thinkers,in the late 1970s and early 1980s and continue to influence debate amongst feminists to this day.
Feminist sexology is an offshoot of traditional studies of sexology that focuses on the intersectionality of sex and gender in relation to the sexual lives of women. Sexology has a basis in psychoanalysis,specifically Freudian theory,which played a big role in early sexology. This reactionary field of feminist sexology seeks to be inclusive of experiences of sexuality and break down the problematic ideas that have been expressed by sexology in the past. Feminist sexology shares many principles with the overarching field of sexology;in particular,it does not try to prescribe a certain path or "normality" for women's sexuality,but only observe and note the different and varied ways in which women express their sexuality. It is a young field,but one that is growing rapidly.
Laura María Agustín is an anthropologist who studies illegal migration,informal labor markets,trafficking,and the sex industry. Blogging and speaking publicly as the Naked Anthropologist,she is critical of the conflation of the terms "human trafficking" and "prostitution". She argues that what she calls the "rescue industry" often ascribes victim status to people who have made conscious and rational decisions to migrate knowing they will be selling sex,and who do not consider themselves to be victims. She states that such views on prostitution originate in what she calls "fundamentalist feminism". She advocates for a cultural study of commercial sex,a theoretical framework she created in the journal Sexualities in 2005.
Feminist views on BDSM vary widely from acceptance to rejection. BDSM refers to bondage and discipline,dominance and submission,and Sado-Masochism. In order to evaluate its perception,two polarizing frameworks are compared. Some feminists,such as Gayle Rubin and Patrick Califia,perceive BDSM as a valid form of expression of female sexuality,while other feminists,such as Andrea Dworkin and Susan Griffin,have stated that they regard BDSM as a form of woman-hating violence. Some lesbian feminists practice BDSM and regard it as part of their sexual identity.
The Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW) is a nexus of feminist thought,activism,and collaboration for scholars and activists. The BCRW regularly hosts public events and creates publications and multimedia projects focusing on social transformation while supporting the work of scholars and activists. Since its founding in 1971,BCRW has promoted women's and social justice issues to its local communities at Barnard College and within New York City and beyond. It is a member organization of The National Council for Research on Women.
Kathleen Barry is an American sociologist and feminist. After researching and publishing books on international human sex trafficking,she cofounded the United Nations NGO,the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). In 1985 she received the Wonder Woman Foundation Award for her strides towards the empowerment of women. She has taught at Brandeis University and Penn State University.
Feminist views on sexuality widely vary. Many feminists,particularly radical feminists,are highly critical of what they see as sexual objectification and sexual exploitation in the media and society. Radical feminists are often opposed to the sex industry,including opposition to prostitution and pornography. Other feminists define themselves as sex-positive feminists and believe that a wide variety of expressions of female sexuality can be empowering to women when they are freely chosen. Some feminists support efforts to reform the sex industry to become less sexist,such as the feminist pornography movement.
Janet R. Jakobsen is a scholar of gender and sexuality. She is the Claire Tow Professor of Women's,Gender and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College and is the author of several books focusing on gender and sexuality.
Carceral feminism is a critical term for types of feminism that advocate for enhancing and increasing prison sentences that deal with feminist and gender issues. The term criticises the belief that harsher and longer prison sentences will help work towards solving these issues. The phrase "carceral feminism" was coined by Elizabeth Bernstein,a feminist sociologist,in her 2007 article,"The Sexual Politics of the 'New Abolitionism'". Examining the contemporary anti-trafficking movement in the United States,Bernstein introduced the term to describe a type of feminist activism which casts all forms of sexual labor as sex trafficking. She sees this as a retrograde step,suggesting it erodes the rights of women in the sex industry,and takes the focus off other important feminist issues,and expands the neoliberal agenda.
Feminist perspectives on sex markets vary widely,depending on the type of feminism being applied. The sex market is defined as the system of supply and demand which is generated by the existence of sex work as a commodity. The sex market can further be segregated into the direct sex market,which mainly applies to prostitution,and the indirect sex market,which applies to sexual businesses which provide services such as lap dancing. The final component of the sex market lies in the production and selling of pornography. With the distinctions between feminist perspectives,there are many documented instances from feminist authors of both explicit and implied feminist standpoints that provide coverage on the sex market in regards to both "autonomous" and "non-autonomous" sex trades. The quotations are added since some feminist ideologies believe the commodification of women's bodies is never autonomous and therefore subversive or misleading by terminology.
Kamala Kempadoo is a British-Guyanese author and sociology professor who lives in Barbados and Canada. She has written multiple books about sex work and human trafficking and won awards from the Caribbean Studies Association and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality for her distinguished and lifetime achievements.
ChloëTaylor is a Canadian philosopher and scholar of women's and gender studies. She is a Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta,where she has worked since 2009. Her areas of research include Michel Foucault,prison abolition,feminist philosophy,and critical animal studies.