City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2015 Pimps of Harlem: Talk of Labor and the Sociology of Risk Amber Horning Ruf Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1115 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] Pimps of Harlem: Talk of labor and the sociology of risk by Amber Horning Ruf A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy. The City University of New York 2015 i © 2015 Amber Horning Ruf All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Criminal Justice in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Valli Rajah Chair of Examining Committee Date ____________________________________________________________________ Deborah Koetzle Executive Officer Date ______________________________________________________________________ Ric Curtis _____________________________________________ Jana Arsovska _____________________________________________ Supervisory Committee CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract Pimps of Harlem: Talk of labor and the sociology of risk by Amber Horning Ruf Adviser: Valli Rajah This dissertation examines how third-party labor is socially constructed by pimps or third parties.1 Pimps and their labor are investigated using sociological paradigms of risk. Risk is defined as exposure to danger (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1991) and can produce negative or positive feelings and outcomes (Lupton, 1999).