Secret trades, porous borders : smuggling and states along a Southeast Asian frontier, 1865-1915 / Eric Tagliacozzo.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-415) and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. Mapping the frontier -- 3. Enforcing the frontier -- 4. Strengthening the frontier -- 5. The specter of violence -- 6. "Foreign Asians" on the frontier -- 7. The indigenous threat -- 8. The smuggling of narcotics -- 9. Counterfeiters across the frontier -- 10. Illicit human cargoes -- 11. Munitions and borders : arms in context -- 12. Praxis and evasion : arms in motion -- 13. Contraband and the junk Kim Ban An -- 14. Worlds of illegality, 1873-99 -- 15. Conclusion.

"Over the course of the half century from 1865 to 1915, the British and Dutch delineated colonial spheres, in the process creating new frontiers. This book analyzes the development of these frontiers in Insular Southeast Asia as well as the accompanying smuggling activities of the opium traders, currency runners, and human traffickers who pierced such newly drawn borders with growing success." "The book presents a history of the evolution of this three-thousand-kilometer frontier and then inquires into the smuggling of contraband: who smuggled and why, what routes were favored, and how effectively the British and Dutch were able to enforce their economic, moral, and political will. Examining the history of states and smugglers playing off one another within a hidden but powerful economy of forbidden cargoes, the book also offers new insights into the modern political economies of Southeast Asia."--BOOK JACKET.