Research
I have been researching Swedish prostitution policy since the late 1990s, with a primary focus on the paradoxes and contradictions within this field.
My doctoral thesis in social anthropology, Sweden's ban on sex-purchase: Morality politics and the governance of prostitution, explores the ban's highly polarised political environment and political-legal contradictions through the lens of morality politics. It provides new insights into how issues such as prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, and drug use are perceived, discussed, and governed within liberal democracies.
My other research publications include:
Östergren P (1999) Västerländska tankedrag som påverkat den svenska sexköpslagens förarbeten. Bachelor’s Thesis, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Östergren P (2003) Synden ideologiserad: Modern svensk prostitutionspolicy som identitets- och trygghetsskapare. Master’s Thesis, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Östergren P (undated) Sex workers critique of Swedish prostitution policy.
Östergren P (2006) Porr, horor och feminister. Natur och kultur.
Östergren P (2010) Att förstå prostitution. In: Lundberg PO and Löfgren-Mårtenson L (eds) Sexologi. Liber, pp.192-197.
Östergren P (2012) Sexköp, mer än bara sex. In: Wigorts Yngvesson, S (ed) Privat på jobbet. Diskussioner om etik, lag och normer kring sexköp och porrkonsumtion. KRUS. Kompetensrådet för utveckling i staten, pp. 85-99
Dodillet S and Östergren P (2013) The Swedish sex purchase act: Claimed success and documented effects. In: Wagenaar H, Altink S and Amesberger H (eds) Final Report of the International Comparative Study of Prostitution. Policy Platform 31, pp.109-136.
Östergren P (2017a) From zero tolerance to full integration: Rethinking prostitution policies. Working paper 10. DemandAT. FP7 Framework Programme for Research of the European Union – Collaborative project Activity 8.5 17 June
Östergren P (2017b) Preventing exploitation and trafficking in the sex work sector. European policy brief. DemandAT. FP7 Framework Programme for Research of the European Union – Collaborative project Activity 8.5 June 17.
Östergren P (2018) Sweden. In: Jahnsen SØ and Wagenaar H (eds) Assessing prostitution policies in Europe. Routledge, pp.169-184.
Östergren P (2020) From zero tolerance to full integration: Rethinking prostitution policies. In: Davy Z, Santos AC, Bertone C, et al. (eds) The SAGE handbook of global sexualities. SAGE Publications, pp.569-599.
Johansson I and Östergren P (2021) Vem avgör? Om ansvar och brottsförebyggande åtgärder när sexköp är olagligt. In: de Cabo y Moreda A, Holmström C and Kuosmanen J (eds) Sex mot ersättning: Säljare, köpare, makt och moral. Studentlitteratur, pp.169-194.
Östergren P (2024) Sweden’s ban on sex purchase: Morality politics and the governance of prostitution. PhD Thesis, Division of Social Anthropology, Department of Sociology, Lund University, Sweden.