Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

“OUTSIDERS” AND IDENTITY RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SEX WORKERS' MOVEMENT IN BANGLADESH

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 26; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02732170500545738

1521-0707

Reshmi Chowdhury,

Anthropological Studies and Insights

ABSTRACT Drawing on the case of the sex workers' movement in Bangladesh, this article examines the identity construction of a group of sex workers who are now active in their rights movement. The study further examines the participation of allies in this identity construction process. This investigation is performed based on the identity talk of the sex workers derived from an ethnographic study. The analysis demonstrates how a group of "bad girls" challenges the dominant code of public life by opposing the social identity as "fallen woman" (potita) and claiming the identity of workers instead. In the process of this identity deconstruction, they transform into "movement activists" with the desire to achieve rights as human beings, citizens, women, and workers. Four patterns of individual and collective identity claims-making strategies are identified from the identity talk: associational dialecticism, oppression consciousness, resistance narrative, and essentialist contention. Participation of external entities in this identity reconstruction process received special attention in the overall analysis. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, August 2005. Preparation of this paper was supported by a field grant from the Research Institute for Study of Man. I acknowledge Professor Kathryn B. Ward at Southern Illinois University who funded and supervised me in conducting this ethnographic study. I am indebted to Dr. Robert Benford for expert guidance and support. I wish to acknowledge the sex worker activists and all other interviewees, the NGOs—Naripokkho, CARE-Bangladesh, and Concern who facilitated me for my data collection. I thank Dr. DeAnn Kalich for extensive revision of the paper and for encouragement. Thanks to Roksana Badruddoja for useful feedback.