Abstract
This paper investigates the process of individuals trying to figure out how the neoliberal economy works by focusing on women selling sex in Mombasa, Kenya. The article will explore the key tensions prevailing in sex work through encounters with supernatural forces narrated by women selling sex. The analysis presented will argue that there are two key tensions that define the moral economy of sex work in Mombasa: the strong stratification among sex workers that position a minority of already better off women in more advantageous ways, thereby leaving most others in precarity; and worries about changing masculinities that result in men who are non-human. Both of those tensions signify the anxieties surrounding an occupation that historically allowed women to accumulate capital and re-insert themselves into Kenyan society in more advantageous positions (see for instance White 1990, Bujra 1977). Furthermore, the contemporary lived realities of selling sex also speak to the processes of neoliberalisation that are internalised by women selling sex and are becoming a key feature of contemporary commercial sex work.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Critical African Studies |
Early online date | 3 Mar 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 3 Mar 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- moral economy
- sex work
- Kenya
- gender
- supernatural