The Myth of Resistance: Rethinking the "Informal" Economy in a Mediterranean Border Enclave

Laia Soto Bermant

Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2015, vol. 30, issue 2, 263-278

Abstract: Against claims that, with globalization, state borders are becoming increasingly obsolete, a growing number of scholars have called for a return to the consideration of borders as the symbols of the power of the state, and of the state, in turn, as the principal agent in the configuration of territorial boundaries. The study of border regions, in this view, should be conceived as an investigation into the ways in which state power is enforced, resisted, contested or negotiated. With this question in view, cross-border smuggling and other "informal" economic activities typical of border areas are construed as movements of resistance and subversion. This essay examines the "informal" economy that exists across the Spanish-Moroccan border of Melilla and argues that the state/resistance approach precludes a nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics at play across borders, and prevents us from asking questions about the meaning of cross-border exchanges, connections and transactions.

Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08865655.2015.1046993 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rjbsxx:v:30:y:2015:i:2:p:263-278

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rjbs20

DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2015.1046993

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Borderlands Studies is currently edited by Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly, Henk van Houtum and Martin van der Velde

More articles in Journal of Borderlands Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().