Introduction

  • Bettina Bruns
  • Judith Miggelbrink
Chapter

Abstract

Small-scale trade and smuggling are part of everyday life at many borders. Whenever prosperity along the border differs leading to considerable price differences in the adjacent countries, the border may be used as an economic resource by inhabitants living nearby. Smuggling cigarettes, alcohol and fuel, illegal drugs and pharmaceuticals or the – at first glance – legal transport of commodities such as clothing or electronic devices: trading activities as the above mentioned often compensate for economic shortages that many households suffer from in consequence of difficult external conditions caused e.g. by economic crises or political transformation processes. Therefore, transborder small-scale trade and smuggling are possibilities to cope with stressful periods of biographic transition such as unemployment and poverty. At the same time, transborder small-scale trade and smuggling are an everyday border phenomenon which is part of the normal routine at many borders.

Keywords

Illegal Market Deceptive Tactic Illegal Good Smuggling Cigarette Illicit Flow 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Agnew, J. (2005): Sovereignty Regimes: Territoriality and State Authority in Contemporary World Politics. In: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 95, pp. 437–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Besozzi, C. (2001): Illegal, legal – egal? Zur Entstehung, Struktur und Auswirkung illegaler Märkte. Bern, Stuttgart, Wien: Verlag Paul Haupt.Google Scholar
  3. Deflem, M./Henry-Turner, K. (2001): “Smuggling”. In: C. D. Bryant (ed.): Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior. Philadelphia: Brunner-Routledge, pp. 473–475.Google Scholar
  4. Hann, C./Hann, I. (1992): “Samovars and Sex on Turkey‘s Russian Markets”. In: Anthropology Today, 8, 4, pp. 3–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Heller, W./Arambasa, M. N. (eds.) (2009): Am östlichen Rand der Europäischen Union: Geopolitische, ethnische und nationale sowie ökonomische und soziale Probleme und ihre Folgen für die Grenzraumbevölkerung. In: Potsdamer Geographische Forschungen, Band 28, Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam.Google Scholar
  6. Holtom, P. (2003): “Coping with the Future of the Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders in Kaliningrad‘s Borderlands”. In: H. Birkenbach and C. Wellmann (eds.): The Kaliningrad Challenge. Münster: LIT, pp. 152–168.Google Scholar
  7. Iglicka, K. (1999): “The Economics of Petty Trade on the Eastern Polish Border”. In: K. Iglicka and K. Sword (eds.): The Challenge of East-West migration for Poland. London: Macmillan, pp. 120–144.Google Scholar
  8. Iglicka, K. (2001): “Shuttling from the former Soviet Union to Poland: from ‚primitive mobility‘ to migration”. In: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 27, 3, pp. 505–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Krämer, R. (2009): Staatsgrenzen im Wandel: Eine theoretisch-historische Reflexion. In: R. Krämer (ed.): Grenzen in den internationalen Beziehungen. Potsdam: Welt Trends e.V., pp. 9–24.Google Scholar
  10. Lee, R. M. (1993): Doing Research on Sensitive Topics. London: Sage.Google Scholar
  11. Polese, A. (2006): Border-Crossing as a Strategy of Daily Survival: The Odessa-Chisinau Elektrichka. In: Anthropology of East Europe Review, 24, 1, pp. 28–37.Google Scholar
  12. Singelnstein, T./Stolle, P. (2008): Die Sicherheitsgesellschaft: Soziale Kontrolle im 21. Jahrhundert. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag.Google Scholar
  13. Thuen, T. (1999): “The Significance of Borders in the East European Transition”. In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 23, 4, pp. 738–750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Van Schendel, W./Abraham, I. (eds.) (2005): Illicit Flows and Criminal Things: States, Borders, and the Other Side of Globalization. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
  15. Wagner, M./Łukowski, W. (eds.) (2010): Alltag im Grenzland: Schmuggel als ökonomische Strategie im Osten Europas. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.Google Scholar
  16. Wallace, C./Shmulyar, O./Bedzir, V. (1999): “Investing in Social Capital: The Case of Small-Scale, Cross-Border Traders in Post-Communist Central Europe“. In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 23, 4, pp. 751–770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Williams, A./Baláž, V. (2002): “International Petty Trading: Changing Practices in Trans-Carpathian Ukraine”. In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 26, 2, pp. 323–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften | Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Bettina Bruns
  • Judith Miggelbrink

There are no affiliations available

Personalised recommendations