Southeast Asian Anti-Imperialist Feminism(s): Political Economy of Patriarchy

"Poulin surveys the rise of the sex trade as apart of the industrialization of the commodification of women's bodies as apart of the process of globalization, in which trafficking once considered marginal to the economy has become for many nations' a central position in capitalist expansion. The liberalization of the sex industry, in particular, is due to the IMF and United Nations adoption of the sex trade in terms of liberalized terms of 'choice'."

"Hoang explores the different class sectors of Ho Chi Minh City’s sex industry and how each tier of women in sex work engages in different levels of emotional labor. Through interviews with women from low, mid, and high class tiers, Hoang uncovers how women at the low-end sector cater to Vietnamese men of similar class standing and engage in more repressive emotional labor (i.e. hiding feelings of disgust) while mid and high end sector women use expressive emotional labor (such as fantasy production and boosting men’s self-image through forms of desire) for remittances and gifts. Her research demonstrates the complex ways in which the experiences of women in the sex industry varies depending on class sectors. Furthermore, Hoang demonstrates how the women in the sex industry of Ho Chi Minh City must engage in various forms of commodified, emotional labor in order to make a profit, which complicates the idea of sex work as merely paying for sexual services."

"Piper’s essay explores how the feminist movements in Korea and Japan utilize transnational legal routes to politicize and popularize the issue of “military sexual slavery.” Survivors of Japan’s comfort women policies and their allies use transnational advocacy networks to connect with women who support their causes, as seen in the cooperation between Japanese women’s groups and Korean women’s groups. These advocates use international notions like “human rights” and foreign courts in order to challenge their domestic governments and pressure them into taking accountability for the sexual violence sanctioned during the wartime period. This article provides a glimpse into possible ways of navigating imperialist and transnational sexual violence against women, and highlights the demands and transnational solidarity of survivors."