Ara Wilson

Her work examines the cultural, social, and sexual aspects of Bangkok economies, as well as illustrating the inaccuracies of Eurocentric ideology.

Between 1988 and 2000, Wilson did fieldwork in Thailand, doing research for The Intimate Economies of Bangkok: Tomboys, Tycoons, and Avon Ladies in the Global City.

[1] Wilson’s research is heavily focused on sexual and ethnic identity which “are produced and transformed through the modernity of the non-Western world”.

[citation needed] During this time, she worked part-time in a telecommunications marketing office, which gave her access to social scenes and "participant observations."

[1] Living at the edge of Bangkok's Chinatown, Wilson observed Sino-Thai business families, major market areas of the city, the prostitution industry, and the class/gender/sexual dimensions of professional identities in transnational corporations.