Border Multiplicities: At the Cross-Roads between Improvisation and Regulation in the Andes. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ødegaard, Cecilie Vindal
• Is Part Of: Journal of borderlands studies. Volume 31:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 38
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Mexican-American Border Region -- Periodicals; United States -- Relations -- Mexico -- Periodicals; Mexico -- Relations -- United States -- Periodicals; Borderlands -- Periodicals; ESTADOS UNIDOS -- RELACIONES -- MEXICO -- PUBLICACIONES PERIODICAS; MEXICO -- RELACIONES -- ESTADOS UNIDOS -- PUBLICACIONES PERIODICAS; Borderlands; International relations; Mexico; North America -- Mexican-American Border Region; United States; Periodicals; 303.48273072
• DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2015.1115733
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0886-5655

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Focusing on illicit trade between Peru and Bolivia, this article is concerned with border-work as it unfolds at the cross-roads between improvisation and regulation. The argument of the article is two-fold. First, it argues that cross-border trade in this context must be understood as socially and spatially embedded. The trade involves a sense of local autonomy and networks of cooperation and exchange that not only facilitate illicit trade, but also adds legitimacy and value to cross-border trade, despite its illegal dimensions. Second, the article argues that commodity flows in this context actualize questions about what, where and when the border is . Due to the social and spatial embeddedness of cross-border trade and the authorities' difficulties to limit the smuggling, border-work is multiplied, taking place in various sites beyond the delineated border. The article illustrates how the flow of a particular commodity, namely fuel, has resulted in an intensification and multiplication of border-work due to smuggling.