The State of Sex: Tourism Sex and Sin in the New American Heartland (Sociology Re-Wired)

About this book

The State of Sex is a study of Nevadas brothels that situates the nations only legal brothel industry in the political economy of contemporary tourism. Nevada is part of the "new American heartland " as its pastimes people and politics have become more central to the nation. The rise of a service and leisure economy over the past sixty years has propelled sexuality into the heart of contemporary markets. Yet neoliberal laws in the United States promote business but limit sexual commerce. How have Nevadas legal brothels survived while the rest of the country criminalizes prostitution? How do brothels operate? Who works in them? This book brings social theory on globalizing economies politics leisure consumption and emotional labor in interactive service work together with research on contemporary prostitution and sexual commerce. The authors employ an innovative multi-method sociological approach combining historical analysis of how the brothels came to be with over a decades worth of ethnographic research on the current state of the industry.