état et illégalisme: quelle géographie? Une approche par les flux marchands depuis l'Afrique et le Moyen-Orient1

摘要

This article probes practices of transgression of law, and the link between illegality and space from the perspective of transnational trade of ordinary goods. First, the author underscores the challenge of designating trade flows and the futility of a classification based on dichotomous and State-centered categories. Second, the role of the State in determining the boundary between legal/illegal is analyzed in a Foucauldian perspective. This categorization is created by those in power who instrumentalize and apply the law for their own benefit. Local relationships between State representatives and so-called traffickers are more symbiotic than oppositional. As a transgressive game with the rules, informality lies not so much outside of the State as its core. Third, the article addresses the issue of the location of informal and illegal activities, arguing they are spatially selective favouring certain shelters or niches, such as borderlands.