Panel Discussion – Erotic Dance as Labour: Multidimensional Discourse

This panel discussion marked the first event of the Centre, and also the first of its Labour Law Discussion Series programme. The main objective of the Centre was to bring forth interdisciplinary understandings of a special category of labour – erotic labour – performed mainly (though not exclusively) by women. Erotic labour is often sought to be disciplined through arbitrary and fluid notions of public morality, decency, and dignity. The social and policy discourses on erotic performances reduce the cultural and socially reproductive labour into merely a means of leisure and catering to prurient interests. In this process, the co-creation of culture and labour at various sites, including bar dance, few folk dances and other popular performances, is often ignored. The panel picked up these loose threads in academic discourse and delved into the socio-political and legal dynamics of erotic performances as a form of work.

The Guest of Honour was Prof. (Dr.) Harpreet Kaur. Panelists included the following individuals:

1. Dr. Brahma Prakash Singh – Asst. Professor, School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU

2. Ms. Veena Gowda – Advocate at the Bombay HC and Trial courts in Mumbai

3. Prof. (Dr.) Sameena Dalwai – Professor, Jindal Global Law School