There is an economic non-hegemonic globalization made up of street markets and trading flows that are animated by actors of the lower classes and not by the elites. These activities are considered as illegal, as "smuggling." The commodities traded are often classified as piracy. In consequence, the trading networks are seen by the powerful as illegitimate and are confronted with repression in the name of legality. I thus debate what is legal/illegal, licit/illicit and make use of the notion of the (il)licit to tackle with the ambivalences and contradictions of this domain. I offer the notion of some non-hegemonic world system, analytically divided into two interconnected spheres: the "global organized crime" and the economic globalization from below. Lastly, I make some considerations on why economic globalization from below exists and how the price of its commodities is made up.
Transnationalism; Piracy; Counterfeits; Smuggling
