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Trade 'outside the law': Uzbek and Afghan transnational merchants between Yiwu and South-Central Asia
Version 2 2023-06-12, 09:20
Version 1 2023-06-09, 20:30
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 09:20 authored by Diana Ibanez-TiradoDiana Ibanez-Tirado, Magnus MarsdenMagnus MarsdenThis article analyses the trajectories of two transnational networks present in the Chinese city of Yiwu: Afghan merchants who trade goods in and out Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, and Uzbek traders (citizens of either Tajikistan or Uzbekistan) who commercialise their merchandise in and out Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. Our aim is to capture an ethnographically grounded understanding of informal markets and economies by analysing the notion of trade “outside the law” including the contested yet widely used category of “the smuggler”. By paying attention to the fluidity of trading practices “outside the law”, we also address the uses and limitations of metaphors widely used in scholarly analysis of informal markets: notably those of “lower” and “higher” forms of globalisation, and the transposition of formal-legal and informal-illegal exchanges onto the notions of economic “centres” and “peripheries”.
Funding
Trust, Global Traders and Cheap Commodities in a Chinese International City (TRODITIES); G1723; EUROPEAN UNION; 669132
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Central Asian SurveyISSN
0263-4937Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
39Page range
135-154Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sussex Asia Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2020-02-04First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-02-24First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2020-02-03Usage metrics
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