New: Volume 15 of our series "Vigilanzkulturen"

The new volume "Sexarbeit im Arbeiterstaat. Sozialistische Ordnung, Geschlecht und ‚Prostitution‘ in der Tschechoslowakei (1948–1989)" has been published.

Officially, prostitution did not exist under socialism. Christiane Brenner examines how Czechoslovakia dealt with sex work between 1948 and 1989. Her analysis of police and judicial practices, expert discourse, and the involvement of vigilant citizens reveals a coexistence of persecution, tolerance, and exploitation of sex work by the State Security Service. The impact of this policy was equally contradictory: people convicted of prostitution were regarded as antisocial and experienced social exclusion. This contributed to the stabilization of the “socialist order.” However, the fact that this order could also be undermined with impunity ultimately undermined its credibility.
“Sexarbeit im Arbeiterstaat” contributes to the political, social, and history of domination in socialist Czechoslovakia by examining the example of prostitution policy. The book provides deep insight into the social, ethnic, and gender hierarchies of this state. It illustrates that the prevailing power relations were also manifested in the dominant understanding of sexuality: Which forms of sex were considered legitimate, and which were condemned as pathological?

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111654171