Sex work provides a perfect example to ponder the distinctions between formal and informal politics and explore the relationships of money, intimacy, and authenticity. Building on the ethnographic fieldwork in central Ukraine, this talk shows how sex workers utilize a controversial topic such as sex to attract attention to their marginalized situation and politicize their activism, and how sex workers attempt to discursively legitimize their income-generating activity and relationships with clients by employing ideas about honesty and resisting the discourse of authenticity. Dafna finishes the talk by discussing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on sex workers in Ukraine.
Bio:
Dafna Rachok is a third-year Ph.D. student in anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. Her interests lie at the intersections of medical, political, and feminist anthropology. Her Ph.D. project explores how the transformation of the public health system (with a particular focus on HIV provision) in Ukraine impacted vulnerable groups like sex workers. She holds a BA in Cultural Studies from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and an MA in Anthropology from the University of Alberta. Her work appeared in the journals Anthropologica and Economic Anthropology.