"Pilar Ortizs brilliant and insightful ethnography of Santiagos cafés con piernas situates them as a transnational space where we can see the intersection of immigration, work, globalization, and sexuality. Rather than treating women as victims of their marginality, Ortiz illustrates the complex relationship between agency and exploitation. It's a must-read book for scholars interested in work, labor, transnationalism, and neoliberalism."
Carolina Bank Muńoz, Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of Building Power from Below: Chilean Workers Take On Walmart and Transnational Tortillas: Race, Gender and Shop Floor Politics in Mexico and the United States.
"Writing with elegance and an eye for detail, Ortiz provides a fascinating account of the intricacies of Chile's geography of sex work. It is sophisticated, yet teachable. Her interlocutors appear as full subjects readers will care about and the analysis is sharp."
Gregory Mitchell, Chair and Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Williams College. He is the author of Panics Without Borders: How Global Sporting Events Drive Myths about Sex Trafficking.
"Precarious Empowerment is much more than an ethnography of erotic businesses that masquerade as coffee shops in Chile. The author contextualizes these workplaces within the country's political economy and shows that sexual labor in these shops, while stigmatized and criminalized, can be superior to other jobs available to poor women, affording them greater autonomy at work and enhancing both their income and self-esteem. A 'must read' for anyone interested in sex work in the Global South."
Ronald Weitzer, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, George Washington University, and editor of Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and Erotic Dancing.
