Global Political Economy Case Study

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Pages: 11

Global Political Economy

An Introduction In order to investigate how the inequalities of global political economy (GPE) influence migrants’ decision to enter the European sex industry I feel it is insightful to briefly engage with the term GPE. We are concerned primarily with the relationship between the states and markets. The state, being political policies and forces, the markets referring to the sphere in which buyers and sellers exchange goods and services at prices determined by supply and demand. To draw from academic work on GPE it’s suitable to return to one of the founding texts of the political economy, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. Smith’s core concept of labour as fundamental to exchange in a market has embedded within

The European sex industry is operating in a discourse that is regulated and set by interconnected political and economic forces. Munro and True (2012) theorized that poverty, normalisation of sex work as labour, and demand for cheap labour in core areas have sustained the sex trades, migration, and the connection between migration and sex work. A paper by Lauren Coplen (2014) acknowledges a scholar who highlights the importance of the GPE and its relationship with the sex industry. True (2012) theorized that changes in the GPE and migration continue to produce and sustain inequalities. Which in turn create a platform for exploiting the intersecting vulnerabilities of migrants. Coplen (2014) develops this theory, arguing how the GPE feeds an unequal exchange and development policies, creating a hierarchical system of inequalities. The desperation and poverty in many arenas along with gender constructions; restrictive immigration laws and illegal employment practices are all inequalities in the GPE that the European sex industry feed on. The GPE leaves migrants victims of its inequalities, a system created and exacerbated by hegemonic core policies and unequal
She opens her interview with how her father died when she was only 13 years old, this left her with no choice but to leave school and work in the markets. After a few years working the markets, she was approached by a lady who introduced the idea of being an escort to her. Alina was promised lots of money and an opportunity for a better life. She was trafficked. Alina was trafficked, and undoubtedly coerced, threatened and eventually deported. For me, however, Alina is an interesting example of how the GPE influence migrants to enter the sex industry. Alina returned to the UK and worked a job within the construction industry. After calculations and consideration, she realised that “it would take her five years to save enough money to go to school”. This is where sex work re-entered her mind as a source of income. She “already did it”; she knew she could do it. Alina re-entered the sex industry as an independent sex worker, earning up to £700 a day “life became easy”. For the first time in her life she could help her family, afford subtle luxury items for herself, even go on a holiday. Alina worked as an independent sex worker for a number of years, until she eventually went to university and is now a practicing