ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the politics of neo-abolitionism in the United States. Neo-abolitionism is the newest incarnation of the movements to abolish prostitution, exemplified by model legislation from Sweden that criminalises the buyer of sex but not the seller. The chapter also explores similarities and differences between following two surges in anti-prostitution advocacy to illustrate the shift from abolitionism to neo-abolitionism in the United States. It discusses the original surge as nineteenth century US women's groups joined with religious moral reformers to campaign for anti-prostitution laws. The chapter then discusses late 1900s abolitionism and its turn to neo-abolitionism after anti-prostitution feminists, Christian evangelicals, and the political right created a coalition to pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000. The sexual politics of neoliberalism are contradictory, and it remains to be seen how the political power of religious, feminist (pro- and anti-prostitution), and conservative groups will continue to impact prostitution politics in the United States.
