Intimate Economies

"Intimate Economies offers a rich analysis of the embodied experiences of affective, emotional and reproductive labor. Insightful and provocative, this compelling collection shuns polarized thinking and takes an unflinching look at the marketization of bodies and relationships in an unequal world. An important book for a much-needed debate about the politics, economics and complexities of intimacy today." (Emma Dowling, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Middlesex University, London) "Intimate Economies radically re-orients the analysis of commercial intimacy by re-focusing attention on the experiences of those engaged in a variety of markets in intimate practices and forms of embodied trade. Bringing together meticulously researched, empirically grounded and theoretically innovative analyses of the complex affective modalities inherent in retail, service and sex work, as well as surrogacy, this is a bold, ground-breaking, and timely collection." (Silvia Posocco, Lecturer in Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London)

This book illustrates how intimate workers in different socio-cultural contexts negotiate the commercial uses of their sexuality, identity, affect, and bodies, thereby often defying inequality, impoverishment, and resource depletion in their regions.

This book illustrates how intimate workers in different socio-cultural contexts negotiate the commercial uses of their sexuality, identity, affect, and bodies, thereby often defying inequality, impoverishment,  and resource depletion in their regions. The studies shed light on the multi-faceted experiences of subjects involved in intimate economies, oscillating between personal empowerment and agency, as well as the required subjection to the demands of the current market regime, entailing participation in precarious employment, often involving bodily risk, economic exploitation and stigmatization. The contributions demonstrate the interrelatedness of market intimacy, family economies, and transnational care arrangements, and thereby challenge Western notions of the subject and the free market.