Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Neoliberalism’S Market Morality And Heteroflexibility: Protectionist And Free Market Discourses In Debates For Legal Prostitution, Barbara G. Brents

Sociology Faculty Research

In August of 1999, not too long before narratives of sex trafficking began to dominate prostitution policy debates, the residents of a small town in Nevada debated closing the city’s legal brothels. Citizens crowded the hearing hall, holding signs about protecting family and community values. But instead of opposing prostitution, as one might have expected, most public commenters echoed a sign that read, “Pro Family, Pro Prostitution.” Drawing on an analysis of the testimony of the 51 citizens in attendance at that public hearing and ethnographic data gathered in four visits to Evenheart over a one-year period, this paper examines …