Engendering Border Trade Circuits

This chapter analyzes the experiences of labor insertion of 30 Paraguayan women in the Paraná Tri-Border Area (TBA) (between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay). Through their stories, it inquires into how they develop trade strategies to face the slowdown of the most popular commercial circuit in the Paraná Tri-Border Area (TBA), known in the literature as the circuito sacoleiro [bag-carriers’ circuit]. The first section starts by giving the theoretical background based on studies that show the articulating relationship between border trade and the women’s experience in this region. Then, analyzing in depth the empirical data, the chapter shows how trade is a fundamental labor niche for the interviewees, which allows them to develop strategies to reconcile their productive and reproductive overloads. Furthermore, it describes the women’s experiences in three commercial niches: on street stalls on the Paraguayan side of the border, in stores or on street stalls on the Brazilian side, and the cross-border smuggling of agricultural products from Brazil to Paraguay. By considering the empirical evidence collected, it concludes with some analytical reflections that complement the previous debates.