Curriculum Vitae
I first
began studying social anthropology in 1987, but it was not until the year of
2000 that I would graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree from Stockholm University. In the interim years I worked as an instructor in self-defence
for women and published two books: Slå
tillbaka! En handbok i självförsvar fö kvinnor! (Strike Back! A Guide to Self-Defence for Women) in 1993 and Att komma till ro med
det allra värsta (Coming to Terms with the Very
Worst) in 1996. The other areas of study in my degree
included Chinese language and sexology. My Bachelor´s Thesis 'The Influence of Western Ideas in Preparatory Work Leading up to the Sex Purchase Ban' (2000) examined Western ideas about gender and sexuality in the preparatory work of the ban, primarily utilising Gayle Rubin’s essay 'Thinking Sex'.
In 2003,
I completed my Master’s Thesis in Social Anthropology at Stockholm University, entitled 'The Ideological Sin: Modern Swedish Prostitution Policy as Creating a Sense of Identity and Safety' (2003), which interrogated the paradoxes that can be found in the Swedish prostitution policy. Whilst working on my thesis I was also researching material
for the book Porr, horor och feminister
(Porn, Whores and Feminists). It was published in 2006 by the same publisher as my previous books, Natur &
Kultur, and analyses the Swedish anti-porn and anti-prostitution discourse,
charting grassroots movements and political actors from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s. Don Kulick, professor in
social anthropology, was the external editor. In the book I apply social
anthropological theories and methodology in order to understand this discourse and locate why it has been so unified in Sweden when compared with other countries. As the only study of its kind, it consequently garnered much attention. It was published in paperback in
2008 and is today used as course literature and is frequently referenced in
academic research. It is in the process of being translated in order to be published as an Open Source project.
In 2008
I was accepted to do a PhD in social anthropology at Lund University. I plan to
complete my doctoral thesis about the meanings and functions of the Swedish Sex
Purchase Ban at the beginning of 2016. Also in 2008, F-ordet.
Mot en ny feminism (The
F-word: Towards
a New Feminism) was published by Alfabeta Publishing, for which I was
the editor. The anthology caters for a wide audience and is a compilation of
essays by academics and writers which takes traditional feminist themes and
explores them in new, innovative ways. The book was published as a paperback in
2009.
Between
2010 and 2012 I was part of a research group which carried out a comparative
study on prostitution policy: International Comparative Study of
Prostitution Policy in The Netherlands, Austria and Sweden. It was led by
Hendrik Wagenaar and was financed by the Nicis Institute, Leiden University and
the cities of Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Vienna. The Swedish study mapped and
discussed the documented effects of the Swedish Sex Purchase Act. In 2011,
Susanne Dodillet and I completed the report, which was later published in 2013
in the document 'Final Report of the International Comparative Study of Prostitution Policy: Austria and the Netherlands'. The same report has been published in German
and Spanish, and can also be accessed in French.
In 2010, my article 'Att förstå prostitution' ('To Understand Prostitution') was published by Liber Publishers in the third edition of the
book Sexologi (Sexology), edited by PO Lundberg and Lotta Löfgren-Mårtensson.
The textbook is a multidisciplinary collection of essays written by the foremost
experts in the field, bringing together a wide variety of perspectives on sexuality
and sexual life. Two chapters in the book discussed the topic of prostitution,
the other being written by Sven-Axel Månsson. My article outlines different
perspectives on prostitution by discussing the underlying factors as to why
there is a cognitive dissonance between how prostitution is experienced and
perceived. The textbook is used in teaching at universities and colleges.
In 2012, I published my article 'Sexköp, mer än
bara sex' ('The Purchase of Sex, More Than Just Sex') in the anthology Privat
på jobbet. Diskussioner om etik, lag och normer kring sexköp och
porrkonsumption (Private at Work – Discussions about Ethics, Laws and Norms
around Sex Purchase and Porn Consumption), by KRUS (Swedish Council for
Strategic Human Resources). The aim of the book is to work as a foundation for ethical discussions
about commercial sex and work.
Since
2013 I am a member of ProstPol - Comparing European Prostitution Policies:
Understanding Scales and Cultures of Governance. ProstPol is a COST action network (European
Cooperation in Science and Technology) gathering around 100 researchers, mainly
from Europe. In 2015 ProstPol will publish an anthology with Routledge to which
I will contribute an article about Swedish prostitution policy.
Since
2014, I have been the project leader for the Swedish section of DemandAt (Demand-side
Measures Against Trafficking) which explores policies dealing with issues
of demand in relation to trafficking, as well as evaluating the effects of
these policies. DemandAt is an EU based interdisciplinary project funded by the
Seventh Programme for Research and Technological Development. It includes nine
partners from several European countries and is coordinated by the International Centre for
Migration Policy Development in Vienna. The project’s final report
will be completed during the spring of 2017.
Thanks
to my commitment to these issues and research within the field, I have, since
1998, been invited to hold lectures and to participate in public debates regarding
Swedish politics and sex work. I am frequently consulted internationally by
those who wish to access my research and opinions, and I have met with
journalists, researchers, politicians, agencies and NGO’s from countries such
as: Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy, Israel, Spain, Iceland,
the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland,
Turkey, Canada and the USA. I have also participated in international research
conferences; I presented papers at the Queering Anthropology Conference at Yale
University in February 2015 and at the ProstPol Conference in Vienna in April of
the same year. I also frequently contribute to Swedish and international media.
Grants
The
first three years of my doctoral studies were funded by a grant from The Axel
and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. Since then, I have received grants for
field studies including travel and purchase of literature from Helge Ax:son Johnson
Foundation, The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, The
Foundation for the Memory of Lars Hierta, and The Ottar Fund.
Publications
The
majority of my publications can be accessed in this PDF-document. My
published research, some accessible for download, can be found here.