Postdoctoral Researcher in Sociology, Legal and Media Studies

Are you interested in the legal and regulatory aspects of platformization and digitization, in particular in relation to sex work? Do you have a profile as an interdisciplinary researcher at the intersection of law, social science and media studies? We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher for the project “The platformization of the global sex industry: Markets, morals, and mass intimacy”, which is funded by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) and led by Prof. Olav Velthuis (Department of Sociology ) and Prof. Thomas Poell (Department of Media Studies ).

With their low entry barriers, their live and interactive character, webcam platforms are among the sex industry’s fastest growing segments. But despite its multi-billion-dollar turnover and their highly disputed social and economic impact, empirical knowledge of the industry is limited. The main aim of this project is to analyse the competition on and between webcam platforms, as well as the working conditions and regulation within the industry. In doing so, the project will focus on the webcam sex industry in the United Kingdom, Romania and The Netherlands. The task of the postdoctoral researcher is to examine national and international regulatory frameworks that apply to the webcam sex industry. Moreover, the objective is to gain insight into potential forms of self-regulation by industry members. The position will be embedded in the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR ), as well as in the Research Priority Area Global Digital Cultures. Affiliation with the Institute for Information Law (IViR ) is also possible.

What are you going to do

Tasks:

• conducting empirical research on regulatory aspects of the platformization of sex work;
• (co-)authoring publications on the basis of this research;
• active participation in the research team;
• participation in and occasional co-organization of project related conferences and seminars.