Hélène LE BAIL | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research (original) (raw)
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Peer-reviewed Articles by Hélène LE BAIL
Perspectives chinoises, 2005
ABSTRACT
Revue européenne des migrations internationales, 2008
The Mobilization of Migrant Chinese Women Sex Workers in Paris. From invisibility to collective a... more The Mobilization of Migrant Chinese Women Sex Workers in Paris. From invisibility to collective action.
![Research paper thumbnail of Coordination du dossier « Migrations chinoises et générations », Revue Hommes & Migrations. n° 1314 [Edition of Special Issue 'Chinese Migrations and Generations' in Journal Hommes & Migrations. n° 1314]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/48578326/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Papers by Hélène LE BAIL
Germany has been at the centre of campaigns for the Nordic Model of sex work that criminalises cl... more Germany has been at the centre of campaigns for the Nordic Model of sex work that criminalises clients, and attempts to discredit the current German approach are widespread. The German CDU (Christian Democrats), the largest party that will most likely lead the next government from 2025, has already adopted a policy stance favouring the Nordic Model. On September 23, 2024, there will be a hearing in a parliamentary committee on a proposal for the Nordic Model by the CDU. We produced this statement as we are very concerned that Germany, like France, will adopt this model that is very detrimental to sex workers.
contribution à un site webThe French Prostitution Act offers the country’s sex workers a way out,... more contribution à un site webThe French Prostitution Act offers the country’s sex workers a way out, but the programme is picky about who it accepts
Critical Social Policy, May 26, 2022
The 2016 law on prostitution in France introduced the so-called Swedish model approach to sex wor... more The 2016 law on prostitution in France introduced the so-called Swedish model approach to sex work, which, at the national level, criminalises those who purchase sex rather than the sex workers themselves. Alongside the repressive character of the law, lawmakers introduced a number of social policy measures through the implementation of a 'prostitution exit programme'. Whilst some pioneering research has sought to evaluate the impact of penalising the clients of sex workers, no survey has yet focused on the outcomes of prostitution exit programmes. Based on qualitative data, including interviews with sex workers and grassroots organisations, this article aims to analyse how the programme was implemented and its overall outcomes. The interviews we conducted shed particular light on the fact that the implementation of the programme is impacted on by the application of restrictive migration policies.
This “generational turn” constitutes the point of departure for this special issue. Drawing on et... more This “generational turn” constitutes the point of departure for this special issue. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, the five articles analyze various forms of discrimination experienced by the new Chinese migrants—first and second generation included—and their strategies of resistance. They offer different perspectives on the political socialization and mobilization of the Chinese and their descendants in France: while Juan Du, Ya-Han Chuang and Aurore Merle analyze the mobilization processes and patterns of first-generation Chinese immigrants in the “banlieues rouges” (red/ communist suburbs) of Paris where many Chinese migrants live and work today and face cohabitation and safety difficulties in relation to other population groups, Hélène Le Bail and Ya-Han Chuang show how Chinese and Asian descendants (second or 1.5-generation immigrants) use social networks to share their feelings about their belonging and discuss the discrimination they suffer, with t...
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2019
This article examines the collective actions undertaken by two groups of Chinese female migrants ... more This article examines the collective actions undertaken by two groups of Chinese female migrants in Paris: sex workers who opposed a new law on prostitution, and manicurists who joined trade unions and went on strike. These women share similar geographical origins and migration projects; many came to France alone, and thus have much weaker social capital than other Chinese migrants in Paris, which pushed them to choose professional sectors viewed as marginal or even stigmatized. Despite their precarious situation, their marginal position has created conditions for collective action, enabling them to develop strong sense of collective belonging and receive support from organizations outside the community. These findings show how a marginal position in an ethnic community can be a triggering factor for migrants' inclusion and political engagement in the host society.
Journal of Chinese Overseas, 2020
Since 2010, Chinese reside nts and Chinese French citizens have denounced unequal treatment in Fr... more Since 2010, Chinese reside nts and Chinese French citizens have denounced unequal treatment in French society, especially focusing on the lack of preventative measures taken against racially targeted violent robberies. In 2016, a major demonstration 1 Hélène Le Bail is a researcher for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), based at the Sciences Po Paris Center for International Studies (CERI) since 2015. She first conducted research in Japan, where she spent many years at Hitotsubashi University, at Waseda University, at the French research center on contemporary Japan (Nichifutsu kaikan) and as an invited researcher at Kobe University in 2019. Since 2013, she has also pursued research in France, with a special focus on female routes of migration (marriage, reproductive labor, sex work) and on mobilization and collective actions. 2 Ya-Han Chuang is a postdoctoral researcher at the French National Institute of Demography (INED) and a research assistant for the ANR-sponsored CHIPRE (Chinese immigrants in Paris Region) project. In 2015, she completed her PhD research on the mobilization of Chinese migrants, and has since been involved in various national and international research projects on Chinese migrants' political practices, anti-racism mobilizations and urban economic integration in Paris, in Aubervilliers and more recently in Budapest.
This paper is the result of a number of contributions for conferences and seminars between 2011 a... more This paper is the result of a number of contributions for conferences and seminars between 2011 and 2012. The analysis developed below does not represent the core of the fieldwork I have been involved in during my study period at the Maison franco-japonaise Research Center (French Research Institute on Japan, in Tokyo). This research project deals more precisely firstly with marriage and migration -involving a series of interviews with Chinese women who arrived in Japan due to arranged marriages -and, secondly, with support associations for women migrants in Japan, collecting biographies of Japanese activists and the staff of NPOs. The fieldwork produced on support associations is part of a Japan-French group research project funded by the French and Japanese national research agencies (the ANR and the JSPS respectively). The project is entitled Local Initiatives against the Exclusion of Foreigners (ILERE): http://www. initiative-locale-migration.fr/index.html. The various contributions I have focused on for this paper provide a much needed broader analysis of the context into which foreigners migrate in Japan today, with an emphasis on the more peripheral areas (where most of the women I have interviewed live) and on the case of Chinese migrants. French Research Institute on Japan Les cahiers d'Ebisu.
Perspectives chinoises, 2005
ABSTRACT
Revue européenne des migrations internationales, 2008
The Mobilization of Migrant Chinese Women Sex Workers in Paris. From invisibility to collective a... more The Mobilization of Migrant Chinese Women Sex Workers in Paris. From invisibility to collective action.
Germany has been at the centre of campaigns for the Nordic Model of sex work that criminalises cl... more Germany has been at the centre of campaigns for the Nordic Model of sex work that criminalises clients, and attempts to discredit the current German approach are widespread. The German CDU (Christian Democrats), the largest party that will most likely lead the next government from 2025, has already adopted a policy stance favouring the Nordic Model. On September 23, 2024, there will be a hearing in a parliamentary committee on a proposal for the Nordic Model by the CDU. We produced this statement as we are very concerned that Germany, like France, will adopt this model that is very detrimental to sex workers.
contribution à un site webThe French Prostitution Act offers the country’s sex workers a way out,... more contribution à un site webThe French Prostitution Act offers the country’s sex workers a way out, but the programme is picky about who it accepts
Critical Social Policy, May 26, 2022
The 2016 law on prostitution in France introduced the so-called Swedish model approach to sex wor... more The 2016 law on prostitution in France introduced the so-called Swedish model approach to sex work, which, at the national level, criminalises those who purchase sex rather than the sex workers themselves. Alongside the repressive character of the law, lawmakers introduced a number of social policy measures through the implementation of a 'prostitution exit programme'. Whilst some pioneering research has sought to evaluate the impact of penalising the clients of sex workers, no survey has yet focused on the outcomes of prostitution exit programmes. Based on qualitative data, including interviews with sex workers and grassroots organisations, this article aims to analyse how the programme was implemented and its overall outcomes. The interviews we conducted shed particular light on the fact that the implementation of the programme is impacted on by the application of restrictive migration policies.
This “generational turn” constitutes the point of departure for this special issue. Drawing on et... more This “generational turn” constitutes the point of departure for this special issue. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, the five articles analyze various forms of discrimination experienced by the new Chinese migrants—first and second generation included—and their strategies of resistance. They offer different perspectives on the political socialization and mobilization of the Chinese and their descendants in France: while Juan Du, Ya-Han Chuang and Aurore Merle analyze the mobilization processes and patterns of first-generation Chinese immigrants in the “banlieues rouges” (red/ communist suburbs) of Paris where many Chinese migrants live and work today and face cohabitation and safety difficulties in relation to other population groups, Hélène Le Bail and Ya-Han Chuang show how Chinese and Asian descendants (second or 1.5-generation immigrants) use social networks to share their feelings about their belonging and discuss the discrimination they suffer, with t...
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2019
This article examines the collective actions undertaken by two groups of Chinese female migrants ... more This article examines the collective actions undertaken by two groups of Chinese female migrants in Paris: sex workers who opposed a new law on prostitution, and manicurists who joined trade unions and went on strike. These women share similar geographical origins and migration projects; many came to France alone, and thus have much weaker social capital than other Chinese migrants in Paris, which pushed them to choose professional sectors viewed as marginal or even stigmatized. Despite their precarious situation, their marginal position has created conditions for collective action, enabling them to develop strong sense of collective belonging and receive support from organizations outside the community. These findings show how a marginal position in an ethnic community can be a triggering factor for migrants' inclusion and political engagement in the host society.
Journal of Chinese Overseas, 2020
Since 2010, Chinese reside nts and Chinese French citizens have denounced unequal treatment in Fr... more Since 2010, Chinese reside nts and Chinese French citizens have denounced unequal treatment in French society, especially focusing on the lack of preventative measures taken against racially targeted violent robberies. In 2016, a major demonstration 1 Hélène Le Bail is a researcher for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), based at the Sciences Po Paris Center for International Studies (CERI) since 2015. She first conducted research in Japan, where she spent many years at Hitotsubashi University, at Waseda University, at the French research center on contemporary Japan (Nichifutsu kaikan) and as an invited researcher at Kobe University in 2019. Since 2013, she has also pursued research in France, with a special focus on female routes of migration (marriage, reproductive labor, sex work) and on mobilization and collective actions. 2 Ya-Han Chuang is a postdoctoral researcher at the French National Institute of Demography (INED) and a research assistant for the ANR-sponsored CHIPRE (Chinese immigrants in Paris Region) project. In 2015, she completed her PhD research on the mobilization of Chinese migrants, and has since been involved in various national and international research projects on Chinese migrants' political practices, anti-racism mobilizations and urban economic integration in Paris, in Aubervilliers and more recently in Budapest.
This paper is the result of a number of contributions for conferences and seminars between 2011 a... more This paper is the result of a number of contributions for conferences and seminars between 2011 and 2012. The analysis developed below does not represent the core of the fieldwork I have been involved in during my study period at the Maison franco-japonaise Research Center (French Research Institute on Japan, in Tokyo). This research project deals more precisely firstly with marriage and migration -involving a series of interviews with Chinese women who arrived in Japan due to arranged marriages -and, secondly, with support associations for women migrants in Japan, collecting biographies of Japanese activists and the staff of NPOs. The fieldwork produced on support associations is part of a Japan-French group research project funded by the French and Japanese national research agencies (the ANR and the JSPS respectively). The project is entitled Local Initiatives against the Exclusion of Foreigners (ILERE): http://www. initiative-locale-migration.fr/index.html. The various contributions I have focused on for this paper provide a much needed broader analysis of the context into which foreigners migrate in Japan today, with an emphasis on the more peripheral areas (where most of the women I have interviewed live) and on the case of Chinese migrants. French Research Institute on Japan Les cahiers d'Ebisu.