A traditional sport: Smuggling among South Funen sailors, 1950-1990

Abstract

Using vessels and sailors from the South Funen Archipelago as a case study, this article examines the relationship between smuggling and sailors in Danish maritime culture between 1950 and 1990. Throughout the period, small-scale smuggling was considered a legitimate activity for sailors if done according to certain rules. Smuggling was largely portrayed as a sport grounded in tradition, not as an oppositional political act, but rather politically implicit. Central to the article is the argument that smuggling is not just an economic phenomenon conditioned by the interplay of supply and demand, but a cultural phenomenon related to state power, maritime culture and the onboard community.