Marxism, Capitalism and Mercantilism

Traders Versus the State: Anthropological Approaches to Unofficial Economics is at once both a frustrating book to read and a fascinating book to review. One might suppose from its title that the book deals with conflict between officials on the one hand and those engaged in tradingor merchandising on the other. And one might suppose from reading the subtitle that the book focuses on the activities of those in the "black" or "informal" markets. The book, however, does not deal with trade or traders, as such, but with the activities of the small-scale street vendor. Nor is its focus solely on the "illegal" or "black market" or "informal sector" activities. Several of the articles deal specifically with the activities of "licensed street vendors." The meaning of "unofficial" is made clear in the introductory chapter by Gracia Clark. The purpose of the book is to analyze the "petty commodity mode of production." The term "traders" is restricted to those engaged in small-scale production and commerce, in particular the street vendors; the term "unofficial" means those economic activities that pose a threat to the position of the more established, capital-intensive middleand upper-class merchants. The activities of the "petty commodity traders" jeopardize the established positions of the "capitalists" or "bourgeoisie." Since the latter tend to control the state, they are able not only to defend their own position by using the coercive arm of the state to regulate and control the activities of the petty traders but, according to Johanna Lessinger (p. 141),they are even