The Queer and Feminist Studies Working Group is hosting a workshop featuring presentations by two Max Weber Fellows: Irene Pollini and Martin Gramc.
Although their experiences may differ, sex workers, intersex people and transgender people share a common concern with questions of self-determination. Transgender people are frequently denied the right to live according to and define their own gender identities, while sex workers are often paternalistically restricted – by the state or by feminist actors – from deciding how and where they wish to work. Similarly, intersex people are still too often subjected to unnecessary medical interventions and genital surgeries, limiting their ability to make autonomous decisions about their own bodies
and identities. In each of these contexts, the law plays a central role in shaping the boundaries of rights, recognition, and autonomy, thereby defining the scope of self-determination. Debates surrounding these groups commonly focus on how best to protect their dignity and self-determination.
This workshop examines how the law conceptualises and regulates these three groups. It explores the legal understanding of self-determination and considers the implications this has for the lives and livelihoods of those affected. It pays particular attention to the role of human dignity as a potential constraint on autonomy, situating these issues within the broader political and social contexts in which rights and self-determination are negotiated.
About the speakers
Irene Pollini is a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. Her research examines the role of international and supranational courts in advancing the rights of marginalised and politically underrepresented groups, including sex workers. She holds a PhD from the University of Trento, having conducted research at KU Leuven, the Hertie School in Berlin and Lund University. Prior to her doctoral studies, she practised as a lawyer and was admitted to the Italian Bar. She has also contributed to policy research on regional responses to pathological gambling at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. Irene will discuss her research on the dignity-based model of sex work regulation and its implications for sex workers' rights in Italy, France and Sweden.
Martin Gramc is a bioethicist and sociologist. Currently he is a Max Weber Fellow at the SPS and Law Department. They hold a PhD from the University of Zürich, where they were also awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. Their research spans across medical sciences, socio-legal studies and gender studies. Martins’ current project investigates how the intersection of medical and legal frameworks in intersex and gender-affirming care impacts the visibility and autonomy of intersex and transgender individuals. Martin will present their work on the legal regulation of intersex and gender-affirming care, as well as the contemporary controversies surrounding these issues in the UK, Germany, and Australia.
Register