Materialism, Sex Work, and the Law: Doing Feminist Legal Theory Differently

The subject of this session is an article I wrote for a Special Issue of feminists@law titled ‘The Forgotten Foundations of Feminist Legal Theory.' It is an explication of the methodology underpinning my manuscript in preparation, titled ‘Within and Against the Law: Sex Worker Rights Activism and the Politics of Rights.’ Clare Hemmings’s provocation for feminist scholars to do feminist theory differently by breaking free from staid tropes and narrative devices through which feminism has been historicised compelled me to place texts from Marxist feminist scholar Silvia Federici and feminist legal and post-Marxist scholar Catharine MacKinnon in conversation with each other. What is revealed is a ‘scaled-up’ materialist methodology and politics that connects the real essence of capitalism and sexual domination to the phenomenal appearances of capitalism and sexuality. Both Federici and MacKinnon understand liberal law as part of domination’s real essence and a phenomenal appearance distorting this reality. They centre women’s consciousness on creating a class/sex for themselves and view law as a possible site for raising consciousness of the real essence of women’s oppression. Having outlined this materialist methodology, I will reflect on what it offers my own and others’ legal research about sex work.

Speaker: Dr. Katie Cruz

Discussant: Dr. Barbara Havelkova

Moderator: Yihong Chen

Katie Cruz is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Bristol, Law School. Her research interests and teaching are labour law, feminist and social theory, and socio-legal methodologies. She is Deputy Research Director for the Law School and MSc Socio-Legal Studies Programme Director. 

Katie’s most recent publication, and the subject of this session, is open access and can be found here: View of Materialism, Sex Work, and the Law: Doing Feminist Legal Theory Differently

This is a hybrid event. 

[In Person] 

Faculty of Law - Seminar Room F, St Cross Building, Oxford OX1 3TJ

[Online]

Microsoft Teams meeting:

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/38379064465567?p=i5rrQf9aytKUziqANM

Meeting ID: 383 790 644 655 67

Passcode: WR2wj2Xe