Table Of ContentInformal Trade, Gender and
The Border experIence
detailing the history of a well-known phenomenon of post-socialism – cross-
border petty trade and smuggling – as the history of a practice in daily life from
a gendered perspective, this book considers how changes in these practices in a
particular border region, between Belarus and lithuania, have been accompanied,
and to some extent provoked, by changes in the border regime. It looks at how
the selective openness of the Belarus–lithuania border worked during different
periods over the last 20 years and how it influenced the involvement of different
social groups in shuttle trade practices.
foremost, this book considers how political borders implement and/or intensify
social boundaries and suggests that the selective openness of political borders, a
prerequisite for the existence of female shuttle trade activities, is primarily built
upon people’s social characteristics. however, it claims that what can be seen as
the grounds for growing inequality at a global level, at a local one may have an
important resourceful meaning for various social groups including those usually
perceived as disadvantaged, such as widowed female retirees or unemployed
single women with children.
Source: petras malukas/afp/Scanpix
Informal Trade, Gender and the
Border experience
from political Borders to Social Boundaries
olGa SaSunkevIch
European Humanities University, Lithuania
© olga Sasunkevich 2015
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
olga Sasunkevich has asserted her right under the copyright, designs and patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
published by
ashgate publishing limited ashgate publishing company
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Sasunkevich, olga.
Informal trade, gender and the border experience : from political borders to social
boundaries / by olga Sasunkevich.
pages cm. – (Border regions series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBn 978-1-4724-6221-3 (hardback) – ISBn 978-1-4724-6222-0 (ebook) –
ISBn 978-1-4724-6223-7 (epub) 1. Boundaries–Social aspects. 2. Borderlands–Social
aspects. 3. Smuggling. 4. Borderlands–Belarus. 5. Borderlands–lithuania. 6. lithuania–
relations–Belarus. 7. Belarus–relations–lithuania. I. Title.
Jc323.S28 2015
382–dc23
2015018237
ISBn 9781472462213 (hbk)
ISBn 9781472462220 (ebk – pdf)
ISBn 9781472462237 (ebk – epuB)
printed in the united kingdom by henry ling limited,
at the dorset press, dorchester, dT1 1hd
Border regions Series
Series editor: doris Wastl-Walter, university of Bern, Switzerland
In recent years, borders have taken on an immense significance. Throughout the
world they have shifted, been constructed and dismantled, and become physical
barriers between socio-political ideologies. They may separate societies with
very different cultures, histories, national identities or economic power, or divide
people of the same ethnic or cultural identity.
as manifestations of some of the world’s key political, economic, societal
and cultural issues, borders and border regions have received much academic
attention over the past decade. This valuable series publishes high quality research
monographs and edited comparative volumes that deal with all aspects of border
regions, both empirically and theoretically. It will appeal to scholars interested in
border regions and geopolitical issues across the whole range of social sciences.
To my parents
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Notes on Transliteration and Language Usage xiii
Acknowledgments xv
List of Abbreviations xix
Introduction 1
1 Shuttle Trade in Ašmjany: Contextualizing Oral History Research 19
2 Shuttle Trade and Borders in Ašmjany Before the Disintegration of
the USSR 43
3 The Emergence of National Borders, the Flourishing of Trade:
Shuttle Trade in Ašmjany in the Early 1990s 69
4 Maturation of the Border, Professionalization of Shuttle Trade
(1994–2007) 91
5 Persistence of the Border, Disappearance of Trade? Shuttle Trade
in Ašmjany After Schengen (2007–2011) 115
6 Shuttle Trade and Gender Relations: A Female World in a
Provincial Border Town 141
Conclusion 167
Appendix: Social Characteristics of the Respondents 173
Bibliography 175
Index 195
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List of Figures
1.1 Map of the Belarus–Lithuania Borderland 20
1.2 The building of Ašmjany synagogue (Olga Sasunkevich) 20
1.3 Ašmjany town centre (Olga Sasunkevich) 21
1.4 Ašmjany town centre in the middle of the twentieth century (1953,
courtesy of Ašmjany local museum) 26
2.1 Tourists from Belarus. Vilnius, 1973 (©Antanas Sutkus, Courtesy
of Antanas Sutkus) 49
3.1 The monument to Lithuanian customs and police officers
who were killed on the border post Medininkai in 1991 (Olga
Sasunkevich) 71
3.2 Halės market and Padhalija 20 years after (Olga Sasunkevich) 82
3.3 The bridge across the river Merkys between Belarusian village
Hrihi and Lithuania village Tabariškės (the picture is taken on the
Belarusian side) (Olga Sasunkevich) 86
5.1 The number of C visas issued by Polish and Lithuanian Consulates
in the Republic of Belarus in 2006–2008 119
5.2 The number of С visas issued by Polish and Lithuanian Consulates
in the Republic of Belarus in 2008–2011 120
5.3 The number of C visas issued by Polish and Lithuanian Consulates
in the Republic of Belarus in 2007 and 2011: Regional Comparison 121
