Regulating sexual labour in modern and contemporary Greece : state, governance feminism(s) and the sex workers' movement

Michalakea, Athina Christina (2024) Regulating sexual labour in modern and contemporary Greece : state, governance feminism(s) and the sex workers' movement. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

Although sex work is often referred to as 'the oldest profession', its nature as work is often questioned. State discourses and certain strands of feminism sustain an exceptionalist view of sex work, to the detriment of sex workers’ status. This thesis investigates the historical origins of this exceptionalism and its effects focusing on the case of Greece. Drawing upon critical scholarship and through the lens of abolitionist feminism, it interrogates the similarities and synergies between state regulationism and the feminist rescue industry from the mid-19th century to the present day. The research builds on secondary and primary historical research, archival and oral testimonies of sex workers, employing the Critical Oral History method. History serves as a tool for critical legal analysis, unravelling the complex relationships between the state, feminisms and sex workers, silenced by mainstream discourses. With Greece situated in the sphere of Western influence, this thesis explores the manifold biopolitical aspects of law (spatial, hygienic, tied with the notion of productivity and with migration policy), and the penal-welfarist nexus established by the state in collaboration with domestic feminist philanthropy. These processes, unfolding in parallel, have placed the governance of sex work within a broader framework of the management and disciplining of the working classes. What is being argued is that the artificial separation of prostitution from other forms of female labour further entraps sex workers in a continuum of illegalisation/criminalisation. In contrast, situating sex work in a broader context of political economy and social reproduction illustrates the fallacious nature of this separation, but also, of other reductionist dichotomies (productive/reproductive, formal/informalised, victimhood/agency). The institutional recognition of sex work as work is thus brought back to the fore as a crucial issue that raises questions concerning the broader concept of labour under capitalism, and whether labour law can mitigate or perpetuate structural inequalities. Ultimately, the thesis contributes to addressing these new challenges and also takes up the opportunities for reflection on the operation of the law and the significance of practices of resistance and struggle outside the law’s realm.

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