Sex, Love and Migration. Post-Socialism, Modernity and Intimate Relationships from Istanbul to the Arctic

The study by Alexia Block goes beyond the common notion of women's exploitation as a hallmark of early 21st-century migration, which features young women from poor countries crossing borders to engage in low-paid and often intimate labor. The author argues that women's mobility is linked not only to risks but also to personal and social transformations, as migration fundamentally changes the emotional world and aspirations of women. Block describes how since the early 1990s, women have crossed the borders of the former Soviet Union, creating new forms of intimacy in their families. The book examines the lives of post-Soviet migrant women involved in three different spheres: sex work, clothing trade, and domestic work.