Rewriting the Victim

Dramatization as Research in Thailand's Anti-Trafficking Movement

Erin M. Kamler (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

304 Seiten

2019
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-084009-9 (ISBN)

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The international movement against the trafficking of women, which has gained momentum over the past two decades, is driven largely by the United States, in tandem with state governments and NGO workers. Feminist organizations have played a key role in carrying out anti-trafficking policies, but are increasingly divided over what those policies should look like. The primary divide exists between those feminists who want to abolish prostitution (as a key link to trafficking) and those who argue that what sex workers need is not to have their livelihoods taken away through paternalistic policies, but improved working conditions to alleviate the dangers associated with their work. A primary criticism of US NGO workers, well-intentioned as they may be, is that they misunderstand the cultural and economic conditions of the women they purport to help. This book provides a unique response to this misunderstanding. On one level it shows how this movement is, in fact, based on a Western mindset that problematizes women and puts its own interests before those of the women it is trying to help. But the project's primary innovation is in the method that it develops to explore the conflict of cultural values that gives rise to the aforementioned debates: what Erin M. Kamler calls Dramatization as Research (DAR).

Through writing and producing "Land of Smiles," a musical inspired by field research that includes over fifty interviews with female migrant laborers, sex workers, activists, NGO employees, and other members of the anti-trafficking movement, Kamler presents one of the dominant stories about human trafficking and critiques the discourse about the trafficking of women in Thailand. The book examines how the musical aimed to facilitate communication between stakeholders in the anti-trafficking movement in Thailand and prime a dialogue to explore the policies, practices, and outcomes of actions in this environment. Through researching, writing and producing the musical for the individuals on whose experiences the story of the musical is based, Kamler shows how the arts can be used as a feminist communication intervention and a vehicle for understanding the cultural dimension of human rights.

Erin M. Kamler is Assistant Professor at Minerva Schools at KGI and Affiliated Researcher at Chiang Mai University. She is an American writer, composer, and academic researcher who works at the intersection of feminist social justice and the arts.

Prologue
Introduction
Chapter 1: Theorizing Dramatization as Research

THE FIELDWORK PHASE
Chapter 2: Setting the Stage: National Identity and the Trafficking of Women in Thailand
Chapter 3: "Smart Raids" and the Victim-Versus-Criminal Narrative
Chapter 4: NGOs and the Rescue Narrative
Chapter 5: Community Based Organizations and the Narrative of Resistance

THE CREATIVE PHASE
Chapter 6: Building the Characters
Chapter 7: Finding the Story
Chapter 8: Embodiment

THE PRODUCTION PHASE
Chapter 9: Articulating NGO Narratives
Chapter 10: Restorative Justice and Reconciliation: NGO Subjectivities
Chapter 11: Articulating Migrant Narratives
Chapter 12: Recollection, Mourning and Witness: Migrant Subjectivities
Chapter 13: Articulating Artist Narratives
Chapter 14: Rupture and Hospitality: Artist Subjectivities
Conclusion: Dramatization as Research: A Feminist Communication Intervention
Appendices
References

Erscheinungsdatum	19.03.2019
Reihe/Serie	Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	236 x 157 mm
Gewicht	544 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Europäische / Internationale Politik
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Systeme
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Vergleichende Politikwissenschaften
ISBN-10	0-19-084009-9 / 0190840099
ISBN-13	978-0-19-084009-9 / 9780190840099
Zustand	Neuware