Conclusion: A Social Theory of Transnational Criminal Markets

This chapter begins by recounting common themes across global trafficking markets, and considering the evidence for links and overlaps between them, using three parameters: geographical; transit; and exchange of one trafficked commodity for another. Then we revisit the spectrum of enterprise concept that has been a central thread of analysis of each trafficking market throughout the book. Trafficking is discussed as a form of illicit commodification, as objects and people are transformed into things that can be bought and sold. Commodification is a central feature of contemporary market society, and it encourages an objectification of the things and people being trafficked, which come to be seen merely as items that can be exploited by business-minded entrepreneurs willing to break the law. Through these processes of commodification and exploitation, trafficking is seen as a systematic feature of globalised neoliberal economy and society. The illegal part of the spectrum of enterprise turns a mirror on modern society and economy that highlights some of the worst features of capitalist life: including a business orientation that is systematically indifferent to harmful effects.