Illegalisms and control in trade —the case of Pinto fair in Temuco, Chile

https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.68

Juan Carlos Peña Axt
ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7689-566X
juan.pena@uautonoma.cl
Universidad Autónoma de Chile

Felipe Andrés Sáez Ardura
ORCID ID : orcid.org/0000-0001-9472-5552
f.saez05@ufromail.cl
Universidad de la Frontera, Chile

Abstract:

As in every social system, when there are illegalisms, there are also correction and surveillance. The present study is a qualitative research conducted at Feria Pinto, in the city of Temuco (Chile). Here, certain behaviors of some traders are accounted for. These consist of illegalities which are sorted into economic illegalities and behavioral illegalities. Through an ethnographic study that combines observation and in-depth interviews, it has been possible to determine categories of analysis in which both types of illegalities are divided. This behaviors are aimed at misleading customers and transgressing certain rules that are part of some tenants’ daily routine.

Keywords: open-air markets, Pinto fair, economic illegalisms, behavioral illegalisms.