Trade ‘outside the law’: Uzbek and Afghan transnational merchants between Yiwu and South-Central Asia

Abstract

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African trading brokers in China: The internet, Covid‐19 and the transformation of low‐end globalization

“…This literature also explores the informal economy's expansion across national borders, through, for example, the labour of those from the Global South in call centres and in software development (Rani, 2020 , p. 89), and in cross‐border trade emanating from China to different regions of the Global South (Karrar, 2019 ; Müller, 2018 ). Scholars focusing on informal global trade have discussed this activity as ‘globalization from below’ or ‘low‐end globalization’ (Ibañez‐Tirado & Marsden, 2020 ; Mathews, 2011 ; Mathews et al, 2012 ; Müller, 2018 ; Ribeiro, 2006 ). Unlike high‐end globalization practiced by large corporations, low‐end globalization typically involves small groups of friends or family engaging in illegal transactions involving goods crossing borders.…”

“…This is globalization as practiced by traders who buy knock‐off or copy goods and get them through customs, with the help of brokers, via bribery. Many of the activities engaged in by these traders are perfectly legal business dealings (Ibañez‐Tirado & Marsden, 2020 ; Mathews, 2020 ), but at crucial points, illegal transactions are practical necessities.…”