Margins of the Market: Trafficking and Capitalism across the Arabian Sea (Volume 24) (California World History Library)

What is the relationship between trafficking and free trade? Is trafficking the perfection or the perversion of free trade? Trafficking occurs thousands of times each day at borders throughout the world, yet we have come to perceive it as something quite extraordinary. How did this happen, and what role does trafficking play in capitalism? To answer these questions, Johan Mathew traces the hidden networks that operated across the Arabian Sea in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Following the entangled history of trafficking and capitalism, he explores how the Arabian Sea reveals the gaps that haunt political borders and undermine economic models. Ultimately, he shows how capitalism was forged at the margins of the free market, where governments intervened, and traffickers turned a profit. "What is the relationship between trafficking and free trade? Is trafficking the perfection or a perversion of free trade? Trafficking occurs thousands of times each day at borders throughout the world, yet we've come to perceive it as something quite extraordinary. How did this happen, and what role does trafficking play in capitalism? To answer these questions, Johan Mathew traces the hidden networks that operated across the Arabian Sea in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Following the entangled history of trafficking and capitalism, he explores how the Arabian Sea reveals the gaps that haunt political borders and undermine economic models. Ultimately, he shows how capitalism around the Arabian Sea was forged at the margins of the free market, where governments intervened and traffickers turned a profit." ... Provided by publisher Contents 7 List of Illustrations 9 Acknowledgments 11 Note on Terms and Transliteration 15 Introduction 17 1. Commoditizing Transport 37 2. Trafficking Labor 68 3. Disarming Commerce 98 4. Neutralizing Money 129 5. Valorizing Money 159 Conclusion 189 Abbreviations Used in Notes 197 Notes 199 Bibliography 235 Index 255 What is the relationship between trafficking and free trade? Is trafficking the perfection or the perversion of free trade? Following the entangled history of trafficking and capitalism, the author explores how the Arabian Sea reveals the gaps that haunt political borders and undermine economic models.