Contested Spaces of Exchange: Informal Cross-Border Trade on the India-Bangladesh Border
Contested Spaces of Exchange: Informal Cross-Border Trade on the India-Bangladesh Border
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有争议的交换空间：印度-孟加拉国边境的非正式跨境贸易
DOI：
10.1080/08039410.2023.2255211
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发表时间：
2023
影响因子：
0.7
通讯作者：
Brown A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brown A
印度和孟加拉国的边界是世界上第五长的陆地边界，在一个非正规经济活跃的地区，这是一个政治紧张的焦点。跨境社区共享文化和语言，非正式跨境贸易(ICBT)由来已久。这篇文章探讨了边界印度一侧的ICBT，考察了其参与者、权力关系和空间维度，以及相关人员的脆弱性。关于ICBT的社会和文化根源的辩论，以及小规模企业家对共谋国家的脆弱性，以及ICBT有利可图的部门中强大的中间人，为分析提供了依据。这种交易是通过jugaad的视角来进行理论分析的，jugaad是印度术语，意为“凑合”和“本能的创造力”。这项研究借鉴了三个跨境部门的案例研究，即日常小商品贸易、政治敏感的牛贸易和跨境医疗保健服务。在所有三个案例研究中，都在一定程度上看到了居高临下的机制，但严格的国家监管有利于控制中间人和国家官员。最后，我们认为，禁止酷刑是西孟加拉邦边境地区更广泛的政治经济的重要组成部分，被遗忘的禁止酷刑部门如果得到宽松监管的支持，可以在帮助边缘化的边境社区维持生计方面具有重要的减贫潜力。
The India–Bangladesh border is the world’s fifth longest land border, a focus of political tension in an area with vibrant informal economies. Cross-border communities share culture and language and informal cross-border trade (ICBT) is well-established. This article explores ICBT on the Indian side of the border, examining its actors, power relations and spatial dimensions, and the vulnerabilities of those involved. Debates on the social and cultural roots of ICBT, and the vulnerability of small-scale entrepreneurs to a complicit state, and powerful middlemen in lucrative sectors of ICBT, inform the analysis. The trade is theorized through the lens ofjugaad, the Indian term for ‘making do’ and ‘instinctive creativity’. The research draws on case studies of three cross-border sectors, everyday trade in small household goods, the politically sensitive cattle trade, and cross-border medical/healthcare services. The mechanisms ofjugaadare seen to some degree in all three case studies, but heavy state regulation gives advantage to controlling middlemen and state officials. Finally, we argue that ICBT is a critical component of the wider political economy in the border regions of West Bengal, and that the forgotten sector of ICBT could, if supported by light-touch regulation, have important poverty-reduction potential in enabling livelihoods for marginalized border communities.