Joel Quirk
@joelquirk.bsky.social
Enslavement and Abolition, Mobility and Work, Social Movements, Gender and Violence, Historical Repair, the Politics and History of Africa. Wits Politics Prof
Have you been wondering what the hell is going on with US human trafficking policy under Trump 2.0?
In the link below you will find a deep dive interview I did with Ambassador Luis C.deBaca, who used to run the TIP office back in the day.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
In the link below you will find a deep dive interview I did with Ambassador Luis C.deBaca, who used to run the TIP office back in the day.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Is Trump 2.0 killing off US anti-trafficking work?
The White House is dangerously close to making anti-trafficking what the critics always said it was: flash and fluff
www.opendemocracy.net
November 27, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Have you been wondering what the hell is going on with US human trafficking policy under Trump 2.0?
In the link below you will find a deep dive interview I did with Ambassador Luis C.deBaca, who used to run the TIP office back in the day.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
In the link below you will find a deep dive interview I did with Ambassador Luis C.deBaca, who used to run the TIP office back in the day.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Delighted to co-author this piece urging the de-silo-ing of anti-trafficking work, & genuine solidarity with grassroots movements.
November 20, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Delighted to co-author this piece urging the de-silo-ing of anti-trafficking work, & genuine solidarity with grassroots movements.
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Our Human Trafficking Lead @mayal-n.bsky.social has written about the growing attack on sexual freedoms, the (mis)use of anti-trafficking frameworks to do so, + the opportunity it has given us to join an incredible alliance of feminist LGBTI rights activists: www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
A bizarre new alliance is coming after sexual freedoms
Radical feminists and religious groups teamed up against sex work. Now they’re going after broader reproductive freedoms
www.opendemocracy.net
November 24, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Our Human Trafficking Lead @mayal-n.bsky.social has written about the growing attack on sexual freedoms, the (mis)use of anti-trafficking frameworks to do so, + the opportunity it has given us to join an incredible alliance of feminist LGBTI rights activists: www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Latest in our solidarities series: fascinating reflections on striking workers in South Africa finding common ground with Palestine solidarity activists. I like that this series doesn’t shy away from tensions & challenges, as well as benefits.
By Maya Bhardwaj for @beyondslavery.bsky.social .
By Maya Bhardwaj for @beyondslavery.bsky.social .
Clover in South Africa: where workers’ rights met Palestine solidarity
Clover in South Africa: where workers’ rights met Palestine solidarity
When dairy workers made common cause with Palestine solidarity activists, the result was radical love in the public square
bit.ly
November 25, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Latest in our solidarities series: fascinating reflections on striking workers in South Africa finding common ground with Palestine solidarity activists. I like that this series doesn’t shy away from tensions & challenges, as well as benefits.
By Maya Bhardwaj for @beyondslavery.bsky.social .
By Maya Bhardwaj for @beyondslavery.bsky.social .
Reposted by Joel Quirk
When dairy workers made common cause with Palestine solidarity activists, the result was radical love in the public square
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
The time workers’ rights teamed up with Palestine solidarity
When dairy workers made common cause with Palestine solidarity activists, the result was radical love in the public square
www.opendemocracy.net
November 25, 2025 at 4:43 PM
When dairy workers made common cause with Palestine solidarity activists, the result was radical love in the public square
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Our final feature is rolling out! We wanted to end on a positive note, so asked a bunch of amazing people to write about their experiences with cross-movement solidarity and organising. We're very excited to share it with you. Enjoy! www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet to end exploitation
Far-right bullies are on the rise, and exploitation will likely rise with them. Cross-movement organising is the only way out
www.opendemocracy.net
November 17, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Our final feature is rolling out! We wanted to end on a positive note, so asked a bunch of amazing people to write about their experiences with cross-movement solidarity and organising. We're very excited to share it with you. Enjoy! www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Radical feminists and religious groups got into bed together once. Now they're broadening the affair, says @gaatw.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
A bizarre new alliance is coming after sexual freedoms
Radical feminists and religious groups teamed up against sex work. Now they’re going after broader reproductive freedoms
www.opendemocracy.net
November 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Radical feminists and religious groups got into bed together once. Now they're broadening the affair, says @gaatw.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
‘An indictment of the trade union movement’: Why no one is organising seasonal workers
‘An indictment of the trade union movement’: Why no one is organising seasonal workers
Farm workers go on unofficial strikes as their temporary visas create barriers to union membership
bit.ly
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 AM
‘An indictment of the trade union movement’: Why no one is organising seasonal workers
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Why can't anti-trafficking be more radical?
Why can't anti-trafficking be more radical?
Anti-trafficking has always been the handmaiden of Global North power, never its rebellious daughter. Let’s change that
bit.ly
November 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Why can't anti-trafficking be more radical?
Reposted by Joel Quirk
🚨Publication Alert🚨
Just out, the final argument in my decades plus long research on humanitarian borders.
"Humanitarian Borders, Safe Passage Campaigns, and the (Re)Production of Unequal Mobility"
doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Just out, the final argument in my decades plus long research on humanitarian borders.
"Humanitarian Borders, Safe Passage Campaigns, and the (Re)Production of Unequal Mobility"
doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Humanitarian Borders, Safe Passage Campaigns, and the (Re)Production of Unequal Mobility
Abstract. This article revisits the scholarly debates and activist actions around what have become known as ‘humanitarian borders’. The article shows how h
doi.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:09 PM
🚨Publication Alert🚨
Just out, the final argument in my decades plus long research on humanitarian borders.
"Humanitarian Borders, Safe Passage Campaigns, and the (Re)Production of Unequal Mobility"
doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Just out, the final argument in my decades plus long research on humanitarian borders.
"Humanitarian Borders, Safe Passage Campaigns, and the (Re)Production of Unequal Mobility"
doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Despite huge sums spent on anti-trafficking, there are staggeringly few evaluations of interventions & growing evidence of harms caused.
This new edited book with @uclpress.bsky.social is our attempt to help change that. 1/
Open access with free digital downloads: uclpress.co.uk/book/evaluat...
This new edited book with @uclpress.bsky.social is our attempt to help change that. 1/
Open access with free digital downloads: uclpress.co.uk/book/evaluat...
Evaluating Anti-Trafficking Interventions
Explore the complexities of trafficking and the importance of effective evaluation in anti-trafficking interventions and measures.
uclpress.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Despite huge sums spent on anti-trafficking, there are staggeringly few evaluations of interventions & growing evidence of harms caused.
This new edited book with @uclpress.bsky.social is our attempt to help change that. 1/
Open access with free digital downloads: uclpress.co.uk/book/evaluat...
This new edited book with @uclpress.bsky.social is our attempt to help change that. 1/
Open access with free digital downloads: uclpress.co.uk/book/evaluat...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Kicking us off is a fantastic piece about solidarities in action by Elene Lam & @chanellegallant.bsky.social .
Lots to learn here from Butterfly about how Asian migrant sex workers have organised across silos in Canada and the US.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Lots to learn here from Butterfly about how Asian migrant sex workers have organised across silos in Canada and the US.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
In the fight for sex workers’ rights, this is solidarity
Over 300 migrant sex workers took on city hall to keep their businesses, showing the power of collective organising
www.opendemocracy.net
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Kicking us off is a fantastic piece about solidarities in action by Elene Lam & @chanellegallant.bsky.social .
Lots to learn here from Butterfly about how Asian migrant sex workers have organised across silos in Canada and the US.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Lots to learn here from Butterfly about how Asian migrant sex workers have organised across silos in Canada and the US.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Next out in our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature is this brilliant piece by Jake Hall about Wages for Housework.
An important historical lens on solidarities beyond silos on the global stage, and the legacies of this trailblazing movement.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
An important historical lens on solidarities beyond silos on the global stage, and the legacies of this trailblazing movement.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
How Wages for Housework sparked an international movement
The 1970s movement paved the way for queer, Black, trans and sex working feminist organising across the world today
www.opendemocracy.net
November 11, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Next out in our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature is this brilliant piece by Jake Hall about Wages for Housework.
An important historical lens on solidarities beyond silos on the global stage, and the legacies of this trailblazing movement.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
An important historical lens on solidarities beyond silos on the global stage, and the legacies of this trailblazing movement.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Next up in our solidarities series is this brilliant piece on an unlikely tactical alliance.
Unsettling and important look at the tensions involved and lessons from it.
By Alex Andrews of @swopbehindbars.bsky.social for @beyondslavery.bsky.social
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Unsettling and important look at the tensions involved and lessons from it.
By Alex Andrews of @swopbehindbars.bsky.social for @beyondslavery.bsky.social
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
We have every reason to mistrust police, but the case against Joey the Player briefly showed us something different
www.opendemocracy.net
November 17, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Next up in our solidarities series is this brilliant piece on an unlikely tactical alliance.
Unsettling and important look at the tensions involved and lessons from it.
By Alex Andrews of @swopbehindbars.bsky.social for @beyondslavery.bsky.social
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Unsettling and important look at the tensions involved and lessons from it.
By Alex Andrews of @swopbehindbars.bsky.social for @beyondslavery.bsky.social
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet for fighting exploitation
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet for fighting exploitation
Far-right bullies are on the rise, and exploitation will likely rise with them. Cross-movement organising is the only way out
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet for fighting exploitation
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Farm workers go on unofficial strikes as their temporary visas create barriers to union membership
Read our investigation with @tbij.bsky.social here ⤵️
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Read our investigation with @tbij.bsky.social here ⤵️
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Why no one is organising seasonal workers
Farm workers go on unofficial strikes as their temporary visas create barriers to union membership
www.opendemocracy.net
November 12, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Farm workers go on unofficial strikes as their temporary visas create barriers to union membership
Read our investigation with @tbij.bsky.social here ⤵️
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Read our investigation with @tbij.bsky.social here ⤵️
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Reposted by Joel Quirk
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
We have every reason to mistrust police, but the case against Joey the Player briefly showed us something different
bit.ly
November 17, 2025 at 8:33 AM
How one case made unlikely allies of police and sex workers
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Supporting the Epstein survivors is important, but please don’t support World Without Exploitation. They advocate for policies that are really harmful to sex workers, like the Nordic Model, which puts sex workers at greater risk of violence and poverty by criminalizing their clients.
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 17, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Supporting the Epstein survivors is important, but please don’t support World Without Exploitation. They advocate for policies that are really harmful to sex workers, like the Nordic Model, which puts sex workers at greater risk of violence and poverty by criminalizing their clients.
Anti-trafficking killjoys struggle to get beyond trafficking and slavery. The only way to truly get beyond anti-trafficking is to stop making it the main character.
Our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature on solidarities beyond silos
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature on solidarities beyond silos
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Solidarity beyond silos is our best bet to end exploitation
Far-right bullies are on the rise, and exploitation will likely rise with them. Cross-movement organising is the only way out
www.opendemocracy.net
November 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Anti-trafficking killjoys struggle to get beyond trafficking and slavery. The only way to truly get beyond anti-trafficking is to stop making it the main character.
Our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature on solidarities beyond silos
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Our final @beyondslavery.bsky.social feature on solidarities beyond silos
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Two data points:
1) Trump killing 11 people via drone strike off the Venezuelan coast
2) Isreal violating international law to strike Hamas in Doha
These are cut from the same cloth. Once you create a state of exception you keep using it over and over
Really baaaaaad shit is coming down the pipe
1) Trump killing 11 people via drone strike off the Venezuelan coast
2) Isreal violating international law to strike Hamas in Doha
These are cut from the same cloth. Once you create a state of exception you keep using it over and over
Really baaaaaad shit is coming down the pipe
September 11, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Two data points:
1) Trump killing 11 people via drone strike off the Venezuelan coast
2) Isreal violating international law to strike Hamas in Doha
These are cut from the same cloth. Once you create a state of exception you keep using it over and over
Really baaaaaad shit is coming down the pipe
1) Trump killing 11 people via drone strike off the Venezuelan coast
2) Isreal violating international law to strike Hamas in Doha
These are cut from the same cloth. Once you create a state of exception you keep using it over and over
Really baaaaaad shit is coming down the pipe
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Applications are now open for the 2025 Colin Murray Award. Deadline: 30 September 2025. The award supports post-doctoral researchers to carry out original ‘engaged field research’ in Southern Africa. Please see the link below for more details jsas.blog
Journal of Southern African Studies
Publishes leading research concerning the history, economics, sociology, demography and anthropology of Southern Africa.
jsas.blog
August 27, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Applications are now open for the 2025 Colin Murray Award. Deadline: 30 September 2025. The award supports post-doctoral researchers to carry out original ‘engaged field research’ in Southern Africa. Please see the link below for more details jsas.blog
Reposted by Joel Quirk
BREAKING: ICE is sending Russian dissidents back to Russia. When the dissidents arrived in Russia, the Russian authorities were given documents relating to their asylum applications in the US which under US law are confidential. This seems to be part of a secret agreement between Trump and Putin.
‘I escaped a Russian prison — only to end up in an American jail’
Dozens of Russian dissidents have been expelled from the US and forcibly returned to Russia with the co-operation of immigration authorities
www.thetimes.com
September 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
BREAKING: ICE is sending Russian dissidents back to Russia. When the dissidents arrived in Russia, the Russian authorities were given documents relating to their asylum applications in the US which under US law are confidential. This seems to be part of a secret agreement between Trump and Putin.
Reposted by Joel Quirk
I’m just a girl, who did a spinal tap on a preschooler last week, asking you to fire RFK Jr.
a woman in a blue shirt is looking at a man in a pink shirt .
Alt: a woman in a blue shirt is looking at a man in a pink shirt , scene from Notting Hill
media.tenor.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I’m just a girl, who did a spinal tap on a preschooler last week, asking you to fire RFK Jr.
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Imagine picking a “businessman” to be your leader, but instead of a great businessman, or even a good one, you pick the absolute worst one…I mean, the laughing stock of his sector (land dev’t), known for many bankruptcies, cheating people, crooked deals, etc.
Now imagine letting him be a dictator.
Now imagine letting him be a dictator.
August 25, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Imagine picking a “businessman” to be your leader, but instead of a great businessman, or even a good one, you pick the absolute worst one…I mean, the laughing stock of his sector (land dev’t), known for many bankruptcies, cheating people, crooked deals, etc.
Now imagine letting him be a dictator.
Now imagine letting him be a dictator.
Reposted by Joel Quirk
Call from a producer this morning:
Zoe please help - we thought the panel on our show was balanced, but it turns out they’re both pro-mass detention camps for asylum seekers. Would you come on to be the anti-detention camp voice?
We are in a really bad place, friends, I am telling you.
Zoe please help - we thought the panel on our show was balanced, but it turns out they’re both pro-mass detention camps for asylum seekers. Would you come on to be the anti-detention camp voice?
We are in a really bad place, friends, I am telling you.
August 20, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Call from a producer this morning:
Zoe please help - we thought the panel on our show was balanced, but it turns out they’re both pro-mass detention camps for asylum seekers. Would you come on to be the anti-detention camp voice?
We are in a really bad place, friends, I am telling you.
Zoe please help - we thought the panel on our show was balanced, but it turns out they’re both pro-mass detention camps for asylum seekers. Would you come on to be the anti-detention camp voice?
We are in a really bad place, friends, I am telling you.