The second economy in the Estonian SSR: small-scale speculation and black market profiteering

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article provides insight into one of the most prevalent forms of the second economy in the Estonian SSR – small-scale speculation and black market profiteering – through the results of narrative research conducted among a small group of speculators who were involved in the smuggling of Western goods behind the Iron Curtain between the mid-1970s and late-1980s. The empirical material comprises five in-depth interviews that focus on various illegal and semi-illegal practices and strategies employed to establish and sustain the flow of contraband consumer items.