Deborah R. Brock

Professor Brock has written extensively on the topic of sexual labour. Her writing links academic research to popular struggles for social justice. She has produced several books in the areas of social, sexual and moral regulation, and the organization of power in everyday social life.

More...

Research Interests

Social, Sexual and Moral Regulation, Sex Work, Research for Social Change

Current Research Projects

• Gedoogbeleid: Social Regulation in the Netherlands, and the Implications for Canadian Social Policy  more...

  Description: 
  Professor Brock’s sabbatical project, “Gedoogbeleid: Social Regulation in the Netherlands, and the Implications for Canadian Social Policy” has been motivated by her existing research concerning the dimensions of social, sexual, and moral regulation in Canada. Her current project explores the very particular (and arguably unique) combination of ethical, political, religious, historical and cultural factors that inform social regulation in The Netherlands. Dutch social policy is, internationally and popularly, widely regarded as motivated by political liberalism. In contrast, within the Netherlands it is considered the practice of pragmatic compromise that characterizes the Polder model of Dutch politics (the attempt to achieve compromise among divergent perspectives, or to impose regulation as minimally as possible). Professor Brock’s analysis includes an investigation of the forces behind recent shifts in gedoogbeleid, including pressure from other member countries of the European Union, and the significant growth of right wing and anti-immigration politics in the Netherlands.

All Publications

Books

Brock, Deborah, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (Editors) Power and Everyday Practices, Toronto: Nelson, 2011.

Making Normal: Social Regulation in Canada (Editor) Toronto: Nelson, 2003

Making Work, Making Trouble: The Social Regulation of Sexual Labour Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Second Edition 2009 (First Edition 1998).

Book Chapters

“Thinking About Power: Exploring Theories of Domination and Governance” in Deborah Brock, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (eds) Power and Everyday Practices Nelson: Spring 2011.

“The Culture of Therapy: Psychocentrism in Everyday Life” with Heidi Rimke in Deborah Brock, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (eds) Power and Everyday Practices Nelson: Spring 2011.

“Unpacking the Centre: Power in Everyday Practices” in Deborah Brock, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (eds) Power and Everyday Practices Nelson: Spring 2011.

‘Practical Feminism: Supporting Women in the Sex Trade’ in Women’s Worlds 2008 Equality is Not Utopia Universidad Complutense Madrid: Thompson, 2008, 50-54.

“Moving Beyond Deviance: Power, Regulation, and Governmentality” in Deborah Brock, Editor, Making Normal: Social Regulation in Canada Toronto: Nelson, 2003.

“Victim, Nuisance, Fallen Woman, Outlaw, Worker?: Making the Identity, Prostitute, in Canadian Criminal Law,” in Dorothy Chunn and Dany Lacombe (eds.) Law as a Gendering Practice, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 79-99.

Journal Articles

‘’Workers of the World Caress’: An Interview with Gary Kinsman on Lesbian and Gay Organizing in the 1970's Toronto Left’ Left History (Spring/Summer 2004) 9:2. Available online at www.yorku.ca/lefthist/

‘From Liberation to Rights: The Politics of Responsibility: An Interview with Gary Kinsman’ Left History (Spring/Summer 2004) 9:2. Available online at www.yorku.ca/lefthist/

"Getting Angry, Getting Organized: The Formation of the Canadian Organization for the Rights of Prostitutes" (with Valerie Scott), Fireweed: Sex Work Issue 65, Spring 1999, pp. 8-21.

Conference Proceedings

‘Sex Work and Law Reform: An International Comparative Analysis’ University of Luxembourg, Conference Proceedings. Under the Patronage of the Grand Duchess and the Ministry of Equality, 2009.

‘Practical Feminism: Supporting Women in the Sex Trade’ in Women’s Worlds 2008 Equality is Not Utopia Universidad Complutense Madrid: Thompson, 2008, 50-54.

Current Courses

Term	Course Number	Section	Title	Type
Summer 2013	AP/SOCI2070 6.0	M	Social Order and Social Organization	LECT	Course Website

Upcoming Courses

Term	Course Number	Section	Title	Type
Fall/Winter 2013-2014	AP/SOCI1010 6.0	E	Introduction to Sociology	LECT
Fall 2013	AP/SOCI4490 3.0	A	Studies in Sexual Regulation	SEMR

Professor Brock has written extensively on the topic of sexual labour. Her writing links academic research to popular struggles for social justice. She has produced several books in the areas of social, sexual and moral regulation, and the organization of power in everyday social life.

Area of Specialization

Sociology


Degrees

Ph.D., Sociology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto
M.A., Sociology, Carleton University
B.A., Sociology and Canadian Studies, University of Waterloo

Research Interests:

Social, Sexual and Moral Regulation, Sex Work, Research for Social Change

Current Research Projects

• Gedoogbeleid: Social Regulation in the Netherlands, and the Implications for Canadian Social Policy

  Description: 
  Professor Brock’s sabbatical project, “Gedoogbeleid: Social Regulation in the Netherlands, and the Implications for Canadian Social Policy” has been motivated by her existing research concerning the dimensions of social, sexual, and moral regulation in Canada. Her current project explores the very particular (and arguably unique) combination of ethical, political, religious, historical and cultural factors that inform social regulation in The Netherlands. Dutch social policy is, internationally and popularly, widely regarded as motivated by political liberalism. In contrast, within the Netherlands it is considered the practice of pragmatic compromise that characterizes the Polder model of Dutch politics (the attempt to achieve compromise among divergent perspectives, or to impose regulation as minimally as possible). Professor Brock’s analysis includes an investigation of the forces behind recent shifts in gedoogbeleid, including pressure from other member countries of the European Union, and the significant growth of right wing and anti-immigration politics in the Netherlands.

All Publications

Books

Brock, Deborah, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (Editors) Power and Everyday Practices, Toronto: Nelson, 2011.

Making Normal: Social Regulation in Canada (Editor) Toronto: Nelson, 2003

Making Work, Making Trouble: The Social Regulation of Sexual Labour Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Second Edition 2009 (First Edition 1998).

Book Chapters

“Thinking About Power: Exploring Theories of Domination and Governance” in Deborah Brock, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (eds) Power and Everyday Practices Nelson: Spring 2011.

“The Culture of Therapy: Psychocentrism in Everyday Life” with Heidi Rimke in Deborah Brock, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (eds) Power and Everyday Practices Nelson: Spring 2011.

“Unpacking the Centre: Power in Everyday Practices” in Deborah Brock, Mark Thomas, and Rebecca Raby (eds) Power and Everyday Practices Nelson: Spring 2011.

‘Practical Feminism: Supporting Women in the Sex Trade’ in Women’s Worlds 2008 Equality is Not Utopia Universidad Complutense Madrid: Thompson, 2008, 50-54.

“Moving Beyond Deviance: Power, Regulation, and Governmentality” in Deborah Brock, Editor, Making Normal: Social Regulation in Canada Toronto: Nelson, 2003.

“Victim, Nuisance, Fallen Woman, Outlaw, Worker?: Making the Identity, Prostitute, in Canadian Criminal Law,” in Dorothy Chunn and Dany Lacombe (eds.) Law as a Gendering Practice, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 79-99.

Journal Articles

‘’Workers of the World Caress’: An Interview with Gary Kinsman on Lesbian and Gay Organizing in the 1970's Toronto Left’ Left History (Spring/Summer 2004) 9:2. Available online at www.yorku.ca/lefthist/

‘From Liberation to Rights: The Politics of Responsibility: An Interview with Gary Kinsman’ Left History (Spring/Summer 2004) 9:2. Available online at www.yorku.ca/lefthist/

"Getting Angry, Getting Organized: The Formation of the Canadian Organization for the Rights of Prostitutes" (with Valerie Scott), Fireweed: Sex Work Issue 65, Spring 1999, pp. 8-21.

Conference Proceedings

‘Sex Work and Law Reform: An International Comparative Analysis’ University of Luxembourg, Conference Proceedings. Under the Patronage of the Grand Duchess and the Ministry of Equality, 2009.

‘Practical Feminism: Supporting Women in the Sex Trade’ in Women’s Worlds 2008 Equality is Not Utopia Universidad Complutense Madrid: Thompson, 2008, 50-54.

Teaching:

Current Courses

Term	Course Number	Section	Title	Type
Summer 2013	AP/SOCI2070 6.0	M	Social Order and Social Organization	LECT	Course Website

Upcoming Courses

Term	Course Number	Section	Title	Type
Fall/Winter 2013-2014	AP/SOCI1010 6.0	E	Introduction to Sociology	LECT
Fall 2013	AP/SOCI4490 3.0	A	Studies in Sexual Regulation	SEMR