The Architecture of Illegal Markets ─ Towards an Economic Sociology of Illegality in the Economy

From illegal drugs, stolen artwork, and forged trademarks, to fraud in financial markets - the phenomenon of illegality in market exchanges is pervasive. Illegal markets have great economic significance, have relevant social and political consequences, and shape economic and political structures.

Despite the importance of illegality in the economy, the field of economic sociology unquestioningly accepts the premise that the institutional structures and exchanges taking place in markets are law-abiding in nature. This volume makes a contribution to changing this. Questions that stand at the centre of the chapters are: What are the interfaces between legal and illegal markets? How do demand and supply in illegal markets interact? What role do criminal organizations play in illegal markets? What is the relationship between illegality and governments? Is illegality a phenomenon central to capitalism?

Anchored in economic sociology, this book contributes to the analysis and understanding of market exchanges in conditions of illegality from a perspective that focuses on the social organization of markets. Offering both, theoretical reflections and case studies, the chapters assembled in the volume address the consequences of the illegal production, distribution, and consumption of products for the architecture of markets. It also focuses on the underlying causes and the political and social concerns stemming from the infringement of the law.

Jens Beckert is Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne and Professor of Sociology at the University of Cologne. He has held visiting positions at Princeton University, Harvard University, Cornell University, the European University Institute, and Sciences Po in Paris. He is the author of The Worth of Goods: Valuation and Pricing in the Economy (OUP), Beyond the Market: the Social Foundations of Economic Efficiency (Princeton University Press 2002) and Inherited Wealth (Princeton University Press 2008). His articles have been published in journals such as Theory & Society, Sociological Theory, Organization Studies, and the European Journal of Sociology.

Matias Dewey is a Senior Researcher in the project area on the sociology of illegal markets at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. He studied sociology in Argentina and received his PhD in Germany. As a visiting scholar, he has spent time at the University of Oxford, at the MaxPo in Paris and recently at the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. He has received grants from the Alexander von Humboldt and Volkswagen foundations. He has published extensively on social theory, economic sociology, illegal markets and qualitative research.