Interrupting conferences: sex workers and public protest

ABSTRACT

This viewpoint paper considers the relationships between conferences and activism by examining the events surrounding the World’s Oldest Oppression, a conference held in Melbourne, Australia in 2016. This conference attracted swift protest action from local sex workers, much of which was executed online. Drawing from the documentation of these events in blogs, opinion pieces, and social media, this paper develops two observations. First, it situates the World’s Oldest Oppression within a trend toward conferences that blur the lines between academic and activist, and considers its use of feminist pedagogies to make space for marginalised stories. Secondly, it posits a tension between the stories the conference sought to generate and share, and the unsolicited stories of sex workers. Characterising this tension as a clash of counterpublics, it discusses the implications of an activist-oriented conference being met with activism of another kind, arriving unauthorised and unannounced.

KEYWORDS:

• Conferences
• feminism
• activism
• sex work
• protest

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. The author would also like to thank Jane Green, of Vixen Collective (Victoria's peer only sex worker organisation), for their thoughtful feedback on this essay, as well as the reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Rosie Joy Barron is a PhD candidate at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research explores education and activism among workers in precarious conditions.

ORCID

Rosie Joy Barron http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2530-4321