Unit information: Sex Power and Consumption in 2020/21

Unit name	Sex Power and Consumption
Unit code	SPOL30073
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Mulvihill
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

In this unit, you will explore how sex and sexual services are commodified, marketised and consumed and how relations of inequality and power intersect these practices.

The unit will trace the history of sex markets, the different modes of consumption and criminal justice responses in the UK and internationally. You will assess the significant impact of the internet, of commercial interests, and of the wider policy context, on the organisation of sex markets and on individuals engaging in buying and selling sex and intimacy.

You will consider how relations of power and social identities (for example: gender, age, class, ethnicity or nationality) may position buyers and sellers and the extent to which agency, pleasure, coercion or harm characterise how sex is consumed today.

Unit aims:

• Identify the various patterns of commodification and consumption of sex and sexual services
• Evaluate the impact of technological change, of commercial interests, and of policy and criminal justice frameworks on the sale and consumption of sexual services
• Critically assess the extent and impact of social power relations within sex markets

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of contemporary sex markets
2. Explain the impact of technology, policy and regulatory frameworks on the sale and consumption of sexual services
3. Theorise how social power relations are implicated in how sex is bought and sold
4. Critically assess the role of the criminal justice system in addressing harms within sex markets

All ILOs will be assessed across summative parts 1 and 2.

Teaching Information

This unit will draw on a blended learning approach. Students will engage with asynchronous taught content (including, for example, narrated slides and other teaching and research materials) and will be tasked to complete activities in preparation for synchronous sessions to present and discuss ideas and clarify learning.

Assessment Information

Part 1: 25% Critical review (1000 words maximum)

Part 2: 75% Essay (2000 words maximum)

Reading and References

Sanders, T., O'Neill, M., and Pitcher, J., 2018. Prostitution: Sex Work, Policy & Politics. SAGE Publications.

Jefferys, S., 2009. The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Sex Trade. London, New York: Routledge.

Ditmore, M.H., Levy, A., and Willman, A., 2010. Sex Work Matters: Exploring Money, Power, and Intimacy in the Sex Industry. London, New York: Routledge. Available as an e-book through the library.

Della Giusta, M. and Munro, V., (eds.), 2008. Demanding sex: critical reflections on the regulation of prostitution. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Available as an e-book through the library.

Brents, B.G., Jackson, C.A., and Hausbeck, K., 2010. The State of Sex: Tourism, Sex and Sin in the New American Heartland. New York: Routledge. Available as an e-book through the library.

Bindel, J., 2017. The Pimping of Prostitution: Abolishing the Sex Work Myth. London: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Available as an e-book through the library.