Smuggling is typically thought of as furtive and hidden, taking place under the radar and beyond the reach of the state. But in many cases, governments tacitly permit illicit cross-border commerce, or even devise informal arrangements to regulate it. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the borderlands of Tunisia and Morocco, Max Gallien explains why states have long tolerated illegal trade across their borders and develops new ways to understand the political economy of smuggling. This book examines the rules and agreements that govern smuggling in North Africa, tracing the involvement of states in these practices and their consequences for borderland communities. Gallien demonstrates that, contrary to common assumptions about the effects of informal economies, smuggling can promote both state and social stability. States not only turn a blind eye to smuggling, they rely on it to secure political acquiescence and maintain order, because it provides income for otherwise neglected border communities. More recently, however, the securitization of borders, wars, political change, and the pandemic have put these arrangements under pressure. Gallien explores the renegotiation of the role of smuggling, showing how stability turns into vulnerability and why some groups have been able to thrive while others have been pushed further to the margins. With both rich empirical detail and novel theoretical contributions, Smugglers and States offers important insights into security and stability in North Africa and the prospects for economic inclusion in a context where many livelihoods exist outside of the law.

In this volume the borders of North America serve as central locations for examining the consequences of globalization as it intersects with hegemonic spaces and ideas, national territorialism, and opportunities for—or restrictions on—mobility. The authors of the essays in this collection warn against falling victim to the myth of nation-states engaging in a valiant struggle against transnational flows of crime and vice. They take a long historical perspective, from Mesoamerican counterfeits of cacao beans used as currency to cattle rustling to human trafficking; from Canada’s and Mexico’s different approaches to the illegality of liquor in the United States during Prohibition to contemporary case studies of the transnational movement of people, crime, narcotics, vice, and even ideas. By studying the historical flows of contraband and vice across North American borders, the contributors seek to bring a greater understanding of borderlanders, the actual agents of historical change who often remain on the periphery of most historical analyses that focus on the state or on policy. To examine the political, economic, and social shifts resulting from the transnational movement of goods, people, and ideas, these contributions employ the analytical categories of race, class, modernity, and gender that underlie this evolution. Chapters focus on the ways power relations created opportunities for engaging in “deviance,” thus questioning the constructs of economic reality versus concepts of criminal behavior. Looking through the lens of transnational flows of contraband and vice, the authors develop a new understanding of nation, immigration, modernization, globalization, consumer society, and border culture.

Ten years ago the topic of human smuggling and trafficking was relatively new for academic researchers, though the practice itself is very old. Since the first edition of this volume was published, much has changed globally, directly impacting the phenomenon of human smuggling. Migrant smuggling and human trafficking are now more entrenched than ever in many regions, with efforts to combat them both largely unsuccessful and often counterproductive. This book explores human smuggling in several forms and regions, globally examining its deep historic, social, economic, and cultural roots and its broad political consequences. Contributors to the updated and expanded edition consider the trends and events of the past several years, especially in light of developments after 9/11 and the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They also reflect on the moral economy of human smuggling and trafficking, the increasing percentage of the world's asylum seekers who escape political violence only by being smuggled, and the implications of human smuggling in a warming world.

Based on interviews with 34 high-level drug smugglers in US Federal custody, this book examines the organizational structures of drug smuggling. Through these interviews, the authors find that the organizational nature of international drug smuggling is not hierarchical, but rather organized in a series of networks.

Do you think the smuggling of drugs and people is a new phenomenon in Canada's west? Think again! Between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, many daring smugglers carried contraband goods and people into western Canada across the US-Canada border or into BC from Asia. Smugglers of the West tells the dramatic tales of the bold criminals who smuggled Chinese immigrants, opium, liquor and a host of commodities ranging from wool to live animals to tobacco. Among them are Boss Harris, the shadowy kingpin whose opium-smuggling empire stretched from Victoria across North America, and King of the Smugglers Larry Kelly, who reputedly tied illegal Chinese immigrants to pig iron so they could be tossed overboard if American patrollers got too close. Rosemary Neering takes readers into a shadowy world where no item was too small and no risk too large for the men and women who carried goods and people clandestinely across the border.

Discover the outlaws who have made—and lost—fortunes along the Florida coast over the centuries . . . For hundreds of years, colorful characters and criminals used the myriad coves and inlets along the Treasure Coast for illicit commerce. From the early days of privateer Henry Jennings to the notorious Prohibition exploits of the Ashley Gang, these sandy shores have been a refuge for those looking to trade on the dark side of the law. Legendary tales of Don Pedro Gibert, Spanish Marie, and Al Capone all contribute to the lore of a region that is home to buried treasure and family crime empires. Join historians Patrick and Patricia Mesmer on a journey through the Sunshine State’s shadowy past, including photos and illustrations.

In der Geschichte des Seehandels unterscheidet man traditionell zwischen erlaubtem Handel und illegalen Praktiken. Doch was wir heute als "unerlaubt" ansehen, wurde bis zur Durchsetzung des souveränen Staates oft als legitim wahrgenommen, weil es innerhalb der Spielregeln des Wirtschaftslebens erfolgte. Je nachdem, wie gut ein Akteur seine Vorstellung durchsetzen konnte, wurde er als Pirat, Schmuggler, Kaufmann oder Admiral wahrgenommen.