When ties don't bind: smuggling effects, bazaars and regulatory regimes in postrevolutionary Iran

• Published in: Economy and society Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 110 - 139
• Main Authors: Erami, Narges, Keshavarzian, Arang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.02.2015; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Ambivalence; Anthropology; bazaar; Circuits; Commerce; Commodities; Commodities trading; Criticism; Cultural anthropology; Economic policy; Economic theory; Ethics; Informal economy; Interdisciplinary aspects; International trade; Iran; Iranian Revolution; Islam; Merchants; Neoliberalism; Networks; Participation; Political economy; Political leaders; postrevolutionary state; Public officials; Regulation; Smuggling; Social networks; Society; State-society relations; Studies; Subjectivity; Trade; Transnationalism; Vulnerability; Iran

This paper examines how participation in smuggling restructures existing commercial regulatory systems and subjectivities. It does so through an analysis of the illicit commercial practices that mushroomed in postrevolutionary Iran and the ambivalent participation of established merchants (bazaaris)...