Article published in Crime Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History and Societies, 29, 2 (2025), 113–132.
Abstract: Faced with problems of shortage on both sides of their shared border, East Germany and Poland imposed export bans and travel restrictions in the 1980s that criminalized as “smuggling” the cross-border circulation of even ordinary household goods. In this context, Polish workers employed in East German factories were among the few groups able to consume and trade across borders consistently throughout the decade. However, female and male workers had different mobilities owing to the gendered structure of separate labour recruitment schemes for commuters and for contract workers. These laid out different conditions for border-crossing, transportation, and housing that also affected smuggling possibilities, making women more likely to engage in small-scale “ant smuggling” while preserving more lucrative options for men, especially those with access to cars. The article thus argues that smuggling itself was neither masculine nor feminine, but individuals’ opportunities to engage in it nevertheless depended greatly on gender.