akaliza@yorku.ca
Isabella Akaliza is a 3rd year PhD candidate in Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies at York University. Her research examines the lived experiences of African sex workers, centring Audre Lorde’s theory of the erotic as a site of connection, relationality, and knowledge production. Engaging Black feminist thought and transnational feminist methodologies, her work challenges dominant western framings of sex work by foregrounding embodied, reciprocal research practices. She is committed to Black feminist approaches that prioritise ethical engagement and relational accountability, and is particularly interested in global sex work politics and the role of the erotic in feminist knowledge production.
Keywords: Black Feminism Thought, Sex Work Studies, African Feminisms, Transnational Feminisms, Postcolonial Studies, Race and Racism