Understanding the motivations and activities of transnational advocacy networks against child sex trafficking in the Mekong Subregion: The value of cosmopolitan globalisation theory

Abstract

Child sex trafficking has become one of the most highly publicised social issues of our time and, due to its global nature, transnational anti-trafficking advocacy networks are well placed and central to lead campaigns against it. Whilst there is an abundance of literature on the subjects of child sex trafficking and transnational advocacy networks we lack an understanding of the motivations of these networks that act as buffers against trafficking. Cosmopolitan globalisation theory remains a compelling framework for examining the motivations of transnational anti-child sex trafficking networks in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Applying a cosmopolitan globalisation lens, this article discusses the social justice goals of transnational advocacy networks, their centrality in combating child sex trafficking, and their ability to perform cosmopolitan ‘globalisation from below’ to counter global social problems.