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the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 march 2012 pp 80­92 doi 10.1111/j.1475-4959.2011.00410.x networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique geoj_410 80 92 andrew brooks department of geography royal holloway university of london egham surrey tw20 0ex e-mail andrew.r.brooks@gmail.com this paper was accepted for publication in march 2011 the trade in used commodities has received limited geographical attention the global production network gpn approach offers a theoretical frame through which to explore how second-hand goods such as used cars are traded internationally the structure of a trade network and the tensions within it are researched through an inductive empirical gpn method and the embeddedness of powerful actors is related to context specific discourse this article contributes to the analysis of the links between production and consumption through investigating informal and corrupt economic networks and exploring how a trade flow is embedded in a patrimonial state the empirical case study demonstrates how used commodities are re-produced through political and cultural processes in japan a strict inspection regime excludes many used cars from the domestic market some of which are exported via south africa for sale in mozambique embedded actors including pakistani trading families play key roles in the governance of this international trade network corrupt individuals within the mozambican customs service exert power at the import node to extract rent from this trade network but the official neoliberal narrative of `development success in mozambique constrains space for critique of their actions discussing the example of used car imports demonstrates how there are political structures which enable actors to have agency in trade networks and this shows how studies of international commodity flows have to stretch beyond the immediate manifestation of trade networks and chains to capture the dynamics of power relations key words mozambique japan global production networks trade corruption used cars an illustrative example of the importance of the trade in second-hand commodities beuving 2004 2006 rosenfeld 2009 the import of japanese used cars1 defined as cars that were first sold as new commodities in japan although they may have been manufactured elsewhere to maputo mozambique via durban south africa is the main empirical focus of this article cars are imported to maputo by pakistani families and individual mozambican traders importing cars depends on official and unofficial payments of tariffs and fees the heterogeneity of used commodities in this network is acted upon by state officials for personal gain this study enriches the application of the gpn approach as it provides a new direction through analysing a secondary cycle of consumption and discussing how corruption influences trade flows this illuminates how rent is extracted by different embedded groups as trading families individuals and state actors are able to command nodes in the trade network and both utilise and circumvent official government regulatory regimes the roles of powerful actors within this network are not presupposed starosta 2010 and the embeddedness of corrupt customs © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers introduction he global production network gpn approach links production and consumption at different nodes in the global economy and explores how states firms and individuals achieve valorisation through possessing and trading strategic assets henderson et al 2002 woxenius 2006 coe et al 2008a hudson 2008 the geographies of recycling and the trade in used commodities are nascent economic processes which merit critical exploration bigsten and wicks 1996 gregson and crewe 1997 lane et al 2009 gpn analysis has not been applied to the secondary trade networks of used goods which have transnational geographies that can be opened up and investigated gregson et al 2010 the disposal of things in affluent states has unexplored downstream effects in the global south hansen 2000 gregson et al 2007a used objects are devalued by cultural and political processes in advanced consumer societies gregson et al 2007b and some of these things are re-produced as commodities that are systematically traded through global networks the import of used cars to african countries from the global north is the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012 t

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networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique 81 officials is discussed as being part of an extensive system of rent extraction by state elites and allied actors hanlon 2002 2004 brown and cloke 2004 söderbaum and taylor 2008 in mozambique it has been argued most notably by joe hanlon that such rent extraction is legitimised through neoliberal narratives of `development success through which donors seek to promote the `positive outcomes of aid interventions cunguara and hanlon 2010 hanlon and mosse 2010 manning and malbrough 2010 global production networks of used commodity trade gpns are geographically conceived constructs that map nodes of production distribution and consumption and the trade flows which connect them henderson et al 2002 the gpn approach is a development of earlier `commodity studies research including global commodity chains gccs gereffi and korzeniewicz 1994 gereffi 1999 and global value chains gvcs kaplinsky 2000 the various differences and the evolution of these approaches have been documented by bair 2005 bernstein and campling 2006 and coe et al 2008b commodity studies methodologies are joined up responses to globalisation linking together different geo-economic moments along a commodities passage from production to consumption kaplinsky 2000 who favours the gvc approach has argued that such analysis should extend beyond the first user to later cycles of consumption and terminal disposal in practice though gvc research and other commodity studies have focused on the links from production to primary purchase and have not fully explored waste production or secondary consumption hudson 2008 gregson et al 2010 the incorporation of ideas from actor network theory coe et al 2008b is considered to make the gpn approach the most appropriate for both this signal case and for second-hand commodity flows in general because of the structure of these trade networks empirical research of the international trade in used commodities is limited but examples particularly of ethnographic research of the used clothing car and shipping trades have demonstrated that informal networks which circumvent political and economic institutions predominate rather than linear supply chains governed by transnational corporations hansen 2000 beuving 2004 nieuwenhuis et al 2007 dobler 2008 gregson et al 2010 these trade flows are fragmented and thus less rooted in a modernist conception of production and consumption latour 1993 the gvc and gcc approaches are linear models which have focused on large organisations and inter-firm transactions whereas the gpn approach is less concerned with describing the linear movements within or between large organisations and attempts to encompass all the `interconnected nodes © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers and links [which extend spatially across national boundaries coe et al 2008a 274 gpn research methods have been applied to explore how such economic networks extend internationally taking advantage of disparate place-based social political legal and economic conditions in the terrain of global capitalism lane and probert 2006 in this article the gpn approach is stretched forward beyond the initial consumption node to analyse the governance and rent extraction in a used commodity network there are commonalities between the various commodity studies approaches and proponents such as bair 2005 hess and yeung 2006 and coe et al 2008b maintain that gcc gvc and gpn research acknowledges power asymmetries between different geographical nodes however starosta 2010 has argued that the various commodity studies chain and network analyses describe and presuppose the power relations between nodes rather than explaining the differential agency of embedded groups and individuals indeed the incorporation of actor network theory within gpn analysis does not resolve this impasse actor network theory has been critiqued by kirsch and mitchell 2004 and bakker and bridge 2006 for focusing on the connections within networks rather than the differentiation between various actors the nature of how and why a trade assemblage is put together and the tensions within it are explored in this case study through an inductive empirical methodological approach framed as gpn research yet the embeddedness of powerful actors in the mozambican node is related to context specific discourse on corruption and state capture hanlon 2002 2004 brown and cloke 2006 hanlon and mosse 2010 in order to apply the gpn approach to used commodities flows it must be discussed how exchange value is re-produced through the network hartwick attributes to commodities a first-order functional `use value and a second-order `symbolic value where use value is a base measure of functionality and symbolic value is socially formed 1998 2000 cars like many objects have use and symbolic values that are sustained and re-created beyond their first cycle of consumption hudson 2008 second-hand cars brought principally as a means of transport must retain use value functionality in contrast `classic cars primarily have symbolic value they are aesthetically appreciated rather than a practical mode of transport2 the distinction between `use and `symbolic value is elastic in its interpretation and is in a marixan sense equivalent to the unitary `use value fine 2002 this case of a used car gpn demonstrates that use value is not simply a measure of an object s material condition for example a car s functionality is also shaped by the external legal-political framework such as government regulatory controls that affect their exchange value by determining how cars can be used bought and sold steg 2004 at different nodes in transnational used commodity networks use and symbolic the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012

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82 networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique values are formed and eroded through economic and political structures and these shape the exchange value of objects methodology understanding the social-economic positionality of those involved in used commodity trades through a gpn approach involves capturing local-scale processes as well as national and international scale patterns henderson et al 2002 this is challenging when researching the international used-car trade as `it is not always possible to quote sources of certain information which can be `very profitable somewhat informal and therefore [information is rather jealously guarded nieuwenhuis et al 2007 18 importing used cars into mozambique involves concealed corrupt and illegal activities canal de moçambique 2010 which are difficult to research de sardan 1999 this article highlights the local scale unofficial transactions through in-depth ethnographic research the used car network was researched through fieldwork in mozambique and south africa between june 2009 and august 2010 the overall structure of the network which extends from japan to mozambique was first investigated through preliminary interviews with traders in maputo and by reviewing literature the focus of the empirical research was on the trade process in mozambique and south africa used car suppliers importers spare part dealers mechanics and customers were formally interviewed using unstructured interviewing in english or portuguese or on occasion when interviews were not practically possible for example due to time constraints observations were recorded in a fieldwork diary gardner 1999 these observations also included recording processes that occurred in public spaces such as at customs posts when it would not have been appropriate to approach people for interview comparable observations in mozambique have previously been undertaken by sheldon 2003 through the process of initial scoping followed by repeated observation of core and standard processes a detailed overview of the network was established and key informants in the trade were identified thomas 1993 the primary research of the local scale activity involved accompanying a mozambican used-car importer in early 2010 the date is unspecified for anonymity on a 2-day business trip from maputo to durban he willingly consented to the research process and a contribution was made to the shared travel expenses the multiple transactions he undertook during this journey and the processes of importing three different vehicles were closely followed on six subsequent days in maputo he was accompanied as he visited clients agents and customs officials this method follows beuving 2004 516 who researched the used car trade in benin and in the model of an anthropological case study `seeks to illuminate printhe geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012 ciples of social organisation by examining in detail a single social event or case beuving s original emphasis on two preceding occasions between october and november 2009 two used car parts dealers who were also involved in the import of used cars were accompanied on day trips to nelspruit south africa and their associated transactions were traced in the same manner a japanese used car was also purchased during the research period although this was done for personal use and not as a research activity this transaction is not directly drawn upon in this article although the experience of being first a prospective customer browsing for a car and second an actual client gave supplementary knowledge of the used car trade there are known and well documented difficulties and limitations to the subjectivity of observational research hoggart et al 2002 scheyvens et al 2003 care has been taken in what is directly reported throughout this article and details of individual interviews trade deals and the people involved are not given anonymity for informants is important and this extends to not specifying particular fees payments or vehicles through which people could be identified illegal and corrupt activities were witnessed and there is danger involved in both participating in and researching the used car trade as is demonstrated by the murder of orlando josé a senior customs official who had investigated the illegal import of cars savana 2010 which is discussed below research was carried out very cautiously understanding such informal processes and gaining accurate insights into `underground economic activity is difficult thomas 1993 52 information is based on a small pool of used car deals precisely because gaining trust and exploring trade at the level of such individual transactions is difficult harriss 1993 the illegalities and corruption in the used car trade are realities with which geographical research has to engage in order to understand the hidden aspects of economic globalisation and this case study extends gpn analysis to encompass these processes without compromising the quality of analysis it is important to acknowledge that there will be gaps in the information that is collected understanding all the processes at different nodes in complex gpn is inherently difficult for the individual researcher coe et al 2008a how value is eroded and constructed in a used commodity taking a used commodity flow as an entry point for study means there is not a traditional production node in this global production network but used commodities are still politically and culturally `produced for example governments in economically developed nations such as germany japan and the uk exclude lower quality cars from the local market and this `produces used cars for export there are geographic © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers

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networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique 83 imbalances in the supply and demand for used cars created principally by asymmetric regulatory regimes that generate a trade of used cars from high to lower standard countries nieuwenhuis et al 2007 clerides 2008 in japan new cars are sold with a 3-year shaken a japanese contraction of automobile inspection registration system certificate and after 3 years cars face a strict inspection comparable to although more rigorous than a british mot or german tÜv test which costs us$1000­2500 and must be repeated every 2 years clerides 2008 324 government of japan 2010 the high renewal costs and stringency of the tests induce owners to replace cars at an early age frequently after the shaken expires clerides and hadjiyiannis 2008 this in effect is a socio-politically constructed decline in the use value of cars the high costs of the shaken inspections have inhibited the development of a local market in second-hand cars car replacement is also influenced by the erosion of the symbolic values of old cars when new models are launched and advertised consumers respond to socially created needs and desires to purchase a new car steg 2004 whilst getting rid of an old car that may retain use value japanese used cars are in steady supply as japan is one of the world s largest cars markets and are high quality low price and without a local resale market in 2002 japan exported an estimated $2.7 billion worth of used cars3 clerides and hadjiyiannis 2008 269 old cars are exchanged against new purchases and are brought by export agents including brazilians indians nigerians pakistanis and russians resident in japan japanese manufacturers benefit from the used car trade because it generates revenue and is seen as an efficient way to promote brand consciousness and open up new markets in developing countries dobler 2008 within japan there are massive car auction houses that hold online sales uss used car system solutions is the largest auction company in japan with around a third of the market share and `more than 50,000 vehicles on average are put up for auction every week [by uss uss 2010 japanese people are often unaware of this process or where their old cars end up in general the disposal of unwanted goods upon which consumption is predicated is concealed hawkins 2003 a japanese un official who worked in mozambique was interviewed for this project he was surprised to see the prevalence of used japanese vehicles in mozambique `the local perception of cars is very different a car that is three years old in japan is seen as dated and like [a 10 year old [car would be here in africa commanding trading links in the import of japanese used cars to durban africa is an important and growing market for japanese used car exports uss 2010 in the southern africa region there is demand for low-cost vehicles © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers and low car regulatory standards the main regional entry port for both used and new car imports is the southwest indian ocean hub of durban although south africa is not an export market for japanese used cars as imports are restricted to protect the south african car industry hall and robbins 2006 south african government 2010 family and ethnic ties are important in commanding interlinked nodes in the used car networks the used car trade is capital intensive and well resourced pakistani families play a dominant role in the southern african market in the 1980s pakistanis became involved at various strategic nodes in the international used car trade including dubai and japan because imports were popular in pakistan and the pakistani government had insisted that imported used cars had to have been owned by pakistanis living overseas pakistan subsequently banned used car imports in 1994 and expatriate pakistani car dealers developed new markets in africa dobler 2008 research participants discussed how the overwhelming majority of japanese used cars sold in mozambique are first imported via durban through pakistani networks shipping between japan and south africa is cheaper and mozambicans tend to lack the capital and contacts in japan to enable direct shipments members of the same hegemonic pakistani trading families and networks work in japan durban and at downstream markets such as maputo in japan they negotiate with japanese used car merchants purchasing checking and organising the outward shipping of cars the same families run import operations in durban and have extensive japanese used car lots located next to the docks this network is schematically represented in figure 1 beuving 2004 found that european and lebanese traders play comparable roles in the import of european used cars to benin to those played by pakistani traders in southern africa certain ethnic groups are embedded in contemporary gpns because of their historic links to nodes of consumption or production for example taiwanese clothing merchants who deal with north american and european buyers command a node in the global clothing commodity flows because the buyers have no experience of dealing with second generation asian producers such as those in mainland china or burma hassler 2003 the american and european buyers prefer to use longstanding contacts from regions which used to produce clothing there is a social link and trust of taiwanese merchants and through the ownership of specialist skills and knowledge these merchants are able to undertake rent-seeking activities ramaswamy and gereffi 1998 this is comparable to the involvement of embedded pakistani trading families in the international japanese used car network they are longstanding clients of japanese car merchants who have used their specialist skills and knowledge to link japanese exports to the african marketplace mozambican the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012

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84 networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique new car purchase in japan disposal of car may be due to expiry of shaken certification or decrease in symbolic value car purchased by wholesaler in japan e.g uss car purchased by pakistani trading family and shipped to durban portside car lot car transhipped from durban to maputo by pakistani trading family car purchased by individual mozambican trader and shipped to maputo by south african car transporter import of car to mozambique the negotiation of this process by pakistani traders was not directly researched car inspected by customs service payment of official fees and bribes in maputo car sold at retail car yard in maputo car sold to a specific client in maputo figure 1 schematic of used car gpn which extends from japan to mozambique traders lacking these assets which were formed in the 1980s in reaction to pakistani law dobler 2008 are not able to `upgrade to this node gereffi 1999 in durban there is a fractured relationship between the port and the city hall and robbins 2006 the pakistani used car lots where only foreign passport holders can enter are part of the duty free `international port landscape and are separated from south african economic space transport hubs such as these are key nodes in the geography of global capitalism and mediate and re-configure commodity flows sidaway 2007 there are many japanese used cars passing through this node cars are jammed into the lots parked bumper to bumper see figure 2 they arrive from japan tightly packed in shipping containers unloading is a rough process and cars are occasionally bumped and dented single used car units are relatively high-value commodities but their treatment the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012 in the lots inside enclaved port sites where space is restricted is indicative of how individual cars are part of a very large-scale and capital-intensive process time to market turnover and the rate of transition of commodities through such nodes in gpns have been demonstrated to be influential determinants of profitability woxenius 2006 the flow of used car commodities from durban to maputo there are different modes of japanese used car imports to maputo from durban see figure 1 including variations around two main models first pakistani retail dealerships in maputo import a large number of cars from durban see figure 3 these dealers are part of the hegemonic networks that extend to japan retail purchasing is convenient for the final mozambican retail © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers

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networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique 85 figure 2 japanese used cars packed in to a durban portside car lot figure 3 a pakistani car dealership in maputo consumers as the cars are sold including the substantial import costs the negotiation of which is discussed below second direct mozambican purchases in durban from the pakistani importers this may be by a small-scale mozambican importer or a private mozambican importing for her/himself direct purchases are made by mozambicans from durban because of choice quality and cost the selection of cars in durban is greater because of durban s status as a hub in the broader network of used car imports to the larger southern african market the available quality can also be greater as informants discussed there is a one to five grading system linked to the shaken certificate grade five cars are `like new whereas grade one or two cars are `shit quotes in original english and the retail dealerships in maputo © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers generally stock a range of cars including lower quality grade one or two cars whereas higher grade cars can more easily be found in durban prices are far lower in south africa and mozambican traders can make a profit importing japanese used cars from durban to maputo as they are buying the vehicle at an earlier node in the network in mozambique the market for cars is expanding and this can be linked to the emergence of a narrow affluent consumer class that has benefited from recent gdp growth this small group has gained whilst the vast majority of the population remain in poverty hanlon and smart 2008 hanlon and mosse 2010 the transactions of mozambican purchasers at the durban node and how they negotiate the transit of the commodity back to maputo will now be explored in-depth drawing predominantly on the primary fieldwork tracing the activities of a mozambican used car trader at the durban car lots there is risk in transactions vendors hurry clients and there is no time to check the cars properly engines are started but there is no opportunity for a test drive when a suitable car is found there may be a phone call back to the client in maputo or to a broker who can advise on the likely official and unofficial import duties discussed below speed of decision making is linked to an implicit trust of the japanese product and the hope for repeat custom and future good deals social relations are played out through brash friendly greetings including in english urdu and portuguese mozambican strangers chat with each other using shared portuguese language to mask their discussion of costs and swap tips and advice purchasers from other southern african the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012

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86 networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique countries including namibians and swazis were also observed at the car yards there is a gender division of work pakistani males are selling and negotiating out in the car lot and female family members finalise paperwork in the office stacks of bills ­ thousands tens of thousands of us dollars ­ are counted this foreign exchange had to be concealed when it is probably unofficially taken out of mozambique to south africa through customs inspections at border crossings including passing through swaziland en route there are important asymmetries of power between the different groups in the network discussing such power imbalances has been a feature of the gpn approach hess and yeung 2006 coe et al 2008b the differential power relations and positions of market participants influence their level of choice and agency as traders act to secure advantage over one another by developing critical assets or capacities in the links between supply chain nodes hall and robbins 2006 socially embedded gpn actors are able to use political contacts to secure rent extraction opportunities in the durban­maputo link the capacity to arrange for the transport of cars through south africa and swaziland by car-carrying truck is an asset of the pakistani dockside used car sellers and their south african contacts mozambicans are now unable to arrange onward transport of used cars whereas previously they drove the cars directly to maputo from durban but this had been stopped by local authorities in south africa the different actors in this network were competing for the car transport activity and both wanted to extract value from this process the shifting socio-political context of intervention by the south african authorities had excluded mozambican traders and they now have to pay a charge to the monopoly south african-based car carriers through the pakistani importers for an activity they previously undertook themselves at low cost there are other roles the pakistani families play in facilitating the transnational trade networks for example a pakistani retail dealership in maputo may accept the balance of a payment for a car that a mozambican direct purchaser had identified and reserved at a durban car lot even though the downstream node in maputo is notionally in competition with mozambican direct purchasers see figure 1 the pakistani dealers are part of the same ethnic/family network and provide this service to facilitate and speed up the sale at their interlinked durban-based node because it is important to keep stock flowing and complete transactions in gpns lane and probert 2006 once a car has been purchased in durban and transported to mozambique it has to have the impostos import tariff paid used car importers and their clients described the formal process of calculating impostos in interviews cars are impounded at one of two compounds in maputo where vehicles are assessed by the alfândega customs service before the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012 they can be licensed and registered for use in mozambique this import tariff is based on four factors the cost of the car the transport costs the freight insurance and engine size cc capacity the first three factors together are equivalent to a vehicle s cif cost insurance freight and a percentage of each factor is taken into consideration in the calculation of impostos along with engine size the car is also inspected to determine the import tariff there are no set costs as two vehicles of the same make model and age can vary widely in their condition and such heterogeneity distinguishes these used commodities from comparable new goods the calculation of fees is a very bureaucratic process with multiple forms and documents required and a daily charge is paid by the importer whilst the car is being assessed this is the official process for car importation however in reality used car imports require further negotiation and the payment of bribes to secure their release from the compounds these grey and corrupt processes were partly witnessed through the transactions of the importer whose deals were followed and subsequently discussed in further interviews when a used car is brought to mozambique the importer may visit an anonymous office in downtown maputo to make an initial payment to a broker who will `desfechar or `desfraldar deliver or unfurl the customs this payment is linked to the type of car and a generous sum can result in dramatically reduced impostos the heterogeneous nature of used cars gives an unscrupulous customs official the opportunity to alter the interpretation of what are appropriate tariffs there are further techniques used by those who are experienced in participating in this network and as one trader put it `working under the table [original english for example when cars are purchased in durban fake invoices can be obtained from the vendors that show a purchase price that is a fraction of what was actually paid so when a car is being assessed by customs it appears to be cheaper enabling lower impostos to be calculated it is not known if this is something that is embraced by corrupt customs officials as it may enable them to more easily record a reduced official tariff for a fee or if this is a trick that the used car importers adopt to avoid paying impostos it is important to note that the corrupt services of a customs official may be gratefully received by car importers and their clients because the official tariffs are so high and otherwise the retail price would be prohibitive or the trader s profit would be diminished in this respect the corruption is `corporate and is an informal association between different actors in the gpn utilised by both the trader and customs official to extract rent to the determinate of the mozambican state a further motivation to pay additional `fees to individual alfândegas is to speed up the rate of transaction individual importers have their capital invested in cars that are impounded and are unable to pursue other business deals illustrating again how © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers

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networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique 87 time to market is important in gpns woxenius 2006 furthermore this demonstrates the risks and vulnerability experienced by individual african car traders see also beuving 2004 the typical amount of both genuine and unofficial costs and tariffs paid by importers is difficult to judge for example a low-cost car with a large engine capacity would have a relatively high impostos and could be anything from 50 to 100 of the purchase price of the vehicle in durban what is indisputable is that the retail value of cars in maputo is far higher than the purchase prices paid in durban over twice the price on average would be a conservative estimate prices contain the relatively fixed cost of transport from japan to maputo estimated by a trader at us$1300­1500 the difference will contain a combination of transport costs brokerage payments actual government tariff fees to corrupt alfândegas and seller s profit information about these ratios is closely guarded by those involved in the gpn as nieuwenhuis et al 2007 also observed and is likely to vary with each transaction the information which has been presented here is linked to small-scale imports of cars directly purchased in durban the pakistani retail used car dealerships in maputo that import on a larger scale are liable for the same official tariffs although what unofficial payments they may or may not make and through what mechanisms is not known equally the precise scale of rent extraction that occurs at this node is impossible to calculate what is apparent from visiting the customs service compounds is the relative affluence of alfândegas officials some customs officers have been observed driving their own private four-wheel drive vehicles worth in excess of us$20,000 this is far beyond their salaried means despite their salaries being higher than public employees in other sectors mosse 2007 used car traders discussed how some alfândega are aware of negative public perceptions of them and conceal their luxury cars this allegation is deemed reliable precisely because the used car dealers know how these valuable cars transit through the trade network corruption in the alfândegas and neoliberal `development success in mozambique it was not safe to research the corruption at this node any further because there have been instances of extreme violence linked to the import of used cars corruption in general limits the legitimacy and effectiveness of public institutions and breeds criminality de sardan 1999 brown and cloke 2004 this is exemplified by the murder of orlando josé director of audit intelligence and investigation of the alfândegas of mozambique josé s responsibility had included the internal investigation of customs services he was killed on 26 april 2010 3 h after announcing on television that three imported luxury cars had been impounded in maputo for various ille© 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers galities in another incident us$400,000 had been seized near the zimbabwean border savana 2010 2 the press and the public heavily linked his death to these announcements and `traições internas internal disloyalty or treason within the alfândegas de carvalho [zambeze 2010 2 used car importers have also said that the murder was linked to an investigation of the used car trade this event is a signal case of the scale of the problems in the customs services and the dangers posed when investigating these processes4 the killing of josé also comes after the murders of investigative journalist carlos cardoso and siba-siba macuacua the interim chairperson of the scandal-ridden austral bank in 2000 and 2001 respectively these murders were linked to investigations of corruption in the mozambican banking system hanlon 2002 fauvet and mosse 2003 the violence and alleged corruption associated with the customs service is ­ like the corruption and patrimony in the banking sector documented by hanlon 2002 ­ a challenge to the legitimacy of the mozambican state critical discourse of the patrimonial mozambican state is marginalised by an official narrative of `development success in mozambique cunguara and hanlon 2010 manning and malbrough 2010 sumich 2010 the alfândegas of mozambique are framed in public discourse as a modern and respectable customs service hubbard et al 1999 a large project funded by the uk department for international development dfid the world bank the international monetary fund and the mozambican government was carried out by the crown agents from 1997 to 2006 to reform customs services this model of intervention is characteristic of neoliberal donor interventions simon 2006 mosse 2007 18 believes the reforms did to an extent decrease corruption but t]here are still signs and practices of corruption and he continues furthermore there are very serious allegations of conflict of interest involving senior officials who have business interests as both importers and as clearance agents the customs directorate is also being criticized for favouring some big importers with links to the frelimo ruling party the reform of the customs services is viewed and popularised as a `development success by the mozambican state and the implementing parties `the modernisation of alfandegas is one of the largest boldest and most successful customs reform programmes ever undertaken in africa crown agents 2006 2 the rhetoric of an `immensely successful reform of the customs service that has significantly reduced fraud corruption and clearance times is not matched by the reality of the experiences of the used car importers the car parts traders discussed below and many other people who are dependent on the alfândegas söderbaum and taylor 2008 this framing of a development intervention as a `success is the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012

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88 networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique part of the neoliberal discourse of mozambique as a model for donor intervention cunguara and hanlon 2010 despite the `growing authoritarianism and unchecked corruption sumich 2010 680 hanlon has argued that donors in mozambique `are rewarding what they see as good performance by allowing and thus effectively encouraging corruption and state capture 2004 748 as donors `rush to promote mozambique as a free-market aid success they entered into a tacit agreements with the elite that corruption would be permitted so long as market friendly policies were accepted hanlon and mosse 2010 5­6 the market for japanese used cars in maputo in general the costs of consuming commodities are affected by the process through which these items are traded to market hudson 2008 and this is equally true of used commodity networks nodes of rent seeking by corrupt officials increase the retail costs of used japanese cars but despite the high price there is a steady demand in mozambique amongst the small affluent population who can often afford a secondhand but not a new car these are the same elite class who have benefited from mozambique s `development success hanlon and smart 2008 the price of japanese used cars in mozambique is difficult to quantify as finding equivalent commodities in other markets is challenging given the variability in makes models and vehicle conditions as a qualitative indicator expatriates from france germany the netherlands portugal south africa the uk and the usa found the japanese used cars sold in maputo very expensive relative to similar used cars in their home markets a conservative estimate would be twice as costly high import costs and tariffs also make new vehicles prohibitively expensive there is no new car production in mozambique the transnational car companies that officially import new cars do not have the same links and situated knowledges that mozambican and pakistani used car dealers have they may have different formal business practices that do not enable them to easily negotiate the unofficial lower tariffs that other socially embedded actors may arrange through customs officials these connections between transnational commodity flows and corruption are not restricted to the used car trade as hanlon 2004 also argues that drug trafficking in mozambique is enabled through traffickers connections to high-level state actors there is trust in the quality of japanese used cars amongst mozambicans and they are considered a good purchase japan is viewed as a very different affluent modern society where people can afford to keep their cars well maintained and upgrade to new models the relative popularity of four-wheel drive vehicles in japan ­ prevalent because consumers responded to socially created needs and desires for the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012 figure 4 a japanese suv driving past a spare part dealer in maputo the symbolic values of sport utility vehicles mitchell 2005 rather than their use value as cars that can be used off-road ­ has been a benefit for the secondary consumers in mozambique these four-wheel drive cars are highly prized and useful commodities in mozambique see figure 4 where there are many rough tracks the automatic door-locking mechanisms that ensure the relative security of car drivers and passengers are also features appreciated by affluent citizens in maputo where spaces of security are commoditised and fragmented paasche and sidaway 2010 in maputo minibuses still displaying the names of japanese schools are used as `chapa shared taxis these minibuses are crammed full of adult passengers most of whom can only dream of purchasing a four-wheel drive vehicle whereas according to a japanese informant they are `only used for kindergartens and small children in japan similar practices are commonplace in other african cities including dares-salaam rizzo 2002 trade networks have broader scale impacts beyond those immediately concerning the producers and consumers henderson et al 2002 through an environmental lens used gpns could be viewed positively as through a secondary cycle of consumption objects are being re-used rather than disposed of potentially reducing demand for new production but that is a simplistic argument and assessing the net environmental impact of re-producing commodities is difficult such analysis has to go beyond the secondary cycle of consumption through to final disposal to consider the full life cycle kaplinsky 2000 in the japanese used car gpn some cars have been regulated out of their domestic market because of their impacts on local air quality and their contribution to global climate change government of japan 2010 negative impacts that will remain through use in mozambique other japanese used cars have failed their shaken because of safety issues and these may be resold to mozambican consumers by unscrupulous traders in an under-regulated gpn © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers

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networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique 89 maintaining vehicles is a constant challenge for car owners as they battle against the entropy of a vehicle s inevitable decline accentuated by poor quality mozambican roads replacement parts are difficult and expensive to obtain and smuggling is common many of the makes and models of imported japanese used cars had never been retailed as new commodities in mozambique so do not have dealer networks or supply chains for parts secondary used car consumers in mozambique do not have a determining effect on what type of used car commodities are produced in japan consumption choices are formed through gpns hudson 2008 the supply of car parts influences mozambican consumer preferences and used cars that are common such as the toyota corrollas and hiaces command a high price as the parts network is more developed see figure 4 new commodity trade networks require great coordination and explicit or implicit coding of knowledge that brings viable products to the market kaplinsky 2000 and demand and price signals lead to organised production for primary consumer markets lane and probert 2006 this empirical study demonstrates that there are not the same links between consumption and production in used commodity gpns consumers in a secondary cycle of consumption respond to the available used commodities rather than directly influencing their specific combinations of use and symbolic values conclusion geographical inquiry needs to develop the analysis of used commodity networks because these are neglected economic processes lane et al 2009 gregson et al 2010 this article has demonstrated through exploring the trade in japanese used cars to mozambique how this can be encompassed by gpn research hudson 2008 the commodities available for secondary markets are initially determined by the consumption choices and disposal practices of primary consumers gregson et al 2007b used commodities are re-produced for secondary markets through cultural and political processes such as the shaken test regime which govern the international flow of certain types of used commodity clerides 2008 by examining used commodity trade this case study has taken gpn research in a new empirical direction however the gpn approach and other commodity studies have been criticised for not addressing the formation and maintenance of power which is also deemed a shortcoming of actor network theory see bakker and bridge 2006 previous research has demonstrated that different actors within networks monopolise control over key nodes and through the possession of strategic assets govern international commodity flows henderson et al 2002 however starosta 2010 argues that the com© 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers modity chains and network approaches through an inductive method focus on tracking the inter-relations between nodes without thoroughly delving into power relations in this article rather than presupposing the power relations the embeddedness of specific actors has been explained in relation to the geographical and political context in which they operate the pakistani trading families are embedded in this network through their historical accumulation of strategic assets their `power at various nodes in the network was initially externally determined by pakistani state policy in the 1980s which forced them to establish critical contacts in japan dobler 2008 in south africa and mozambique they have acted to entrench their privileged position in the network and they aim to speed the flow of commodities through the enclaved durban port node to maximise valorisation and monopolise the market woxenius 2006 sidaway 2007 comparable captures of trading nodes have been explored by ramaswamy and gereffi 1998 gereffi 1999 and beuving 2004 2006 the pakistani traders are not the main focus for discussing power in this gpn and the locus of inquiry is appreciating how rent extraction is embedded in the negotiation of car imports between mozambican traders and customs officials rent seeking through corruption has not been adequately explored in empirical research because of methodological difficulties brown and cloke 2004 at the micro scale of individual transactions the variability of used commodities means there is more elasticity in interoperating the rules associated with the regulation of their import this provides opportunities for corruption and rent-seeking by government officials in mozambique but observing this is only describing the immediate outer manifestation of the gpn assemblage to understand how customs officials and the allied car importers are able to have the power to extract rent at this node in this trade network the broader context of the patrimonial state has to be engaged with the continuing process of state capture by a narrow elite through the governing frelimo party in mozambique is perpetuating corruption sumich 2010 the crown agents customs reform project may as mosse 2007 discusses have been partially successful in decreasing corruption but through ethnographic fieldwork tracing the flow of used cars the persistence of corruption has been demonstrated to be endemic see also söderbaum and taylor 2008 the reform of the alfândegas is typical of the mode for public­private development interventions in the global south simon 2006 this donor programme is part of a suite of neoliberal policies which are positively framed as having accomplished their poverty reduction goals in public discourse and in mozambique are part of a `development success story cunguara and hanlon 2010 manning and malbrough 2010 hanlon has argued that donors have tolerated corruption and violent acts as they continue the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012

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90 networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique bakker k and bridge g 2006 material worlds resource geographies and the `matter of nature progress in human geography 30 5­27 bernstein h and campling l 2006 review article commodity studies and commodity fetishism i trading down journal of agrarian change 6 239­64 beuving j j 2004 cotonou s klondike african traders and second-hand car markets in bénin journal of modern african studies 42 511­37 beuving j j 2006 nigerien second-hand car traders in cotonou a sociocultural analysis of economic decision-making african affairs 105 353­73 bigsten a and wicks r 1996 used-clothing exports to the third world economic considerations development policy review 14 379­90 brown e and cloke j 2004 neoliberal reform governance and corruption in the south assessing the international anticorruption arusade antipode 36 272­94 brown e and cloke j 2006 the critical business of corruption critical perspectives on international business 2 275­98 canal de moçambique 2010 director de investigação e auditoria das alfândegas foi morto na sua residência [director of investigation and audit of the customs service killed at home 28 april clerides s 2008 gains from trade in used goods evidence from automobiles journal of international economics 76 322­ 36 clerides s and hadjiyiannis c 2008 quality standards for used durables an indirect subsidy journal of international economics 75 268­82 coe n m dicken p and hess m 2008a global production networks realizing the potential journal of economic geography 8 271­95 coe n m dicken p and hess m 2008b introduction global production networks ­ debates and challenges journal of economic geography 8 271­95 crown agents 2006 customs reform programme 1997­2006 the modernisation of alfândegas de moçambique http www crownagents.com/core/downloaddoc.aspx?documentid 971 accessed 1 october 2010 cunguara b and hanlon j 2010 poverty is not being reduced in mozambique crisis state research centre lse working paper no 74 series 2 de carvalho 2010 traições na corporação resultam na morte do director [betrayals in the corporation result in the death of the director zambeze 29 april de sardan j p o 1999 a moral economy of corruption in africa the journal of modern african studies 37 25­52 dobler g 2008 from scotch whiskey to chinese sneakers international commodity flows and new trade networks in oshikango namibia africa the journal of the international african institute 78 410­32 fauvet p and mosse m 2003 carlos cardoso telling the truth in mozambique double storey cape town fine b 2002 the world of consumption the material and cultural revisited 2nd edn routledge london gardner k 1999 location and relocation home `the field and anthropological ethics sylhet bangladesh in watson c w ed being there fieldwork in anthropology pluto press london © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers to see `good performance 2004 748 whilst the mozambican state and donors maintain this doublespeak of `development success the space for critique is constrained and the narrow elite continue to gain from gdp growth hanlon and mosse 2010 through involvement in economic activities systems such as the import of used cars engaging with the specific mozambican literature and broader discussions of neoliberal interventions in the global south brown and cloke 2004 simon 2006 sidaway 2007 have enabled a nuanced discussion of the political structures within which the actors in this trade network operate this case study has demonstrated how trade nodes are embedded in specific places and political contexts the actions of the firms and individuals in trade flows are governed by these external dynamics as well as their relations to other actors in the networks commodity studies research has to stretch beyond the immediate manifestation of trade networks and chains to capture these processes acknowledgements grateful thanks go to yiwonda banda alex loftus fiona nash aiden sidebottom david simon and two anonymous reviewers who gave very useful comments on earlier drafts of this article i would also like to thank all those in mozambique and south africa who participated in and facilitated the research unfortunately given the illegality and violence associated with the trade they have to remain nameless i hold an esrc doctoral grant notes 1 `cars includes minibuses and sports utility vehicles used vehicles from other countries including south korea the uk and the usa are also imported to mozambique on a smaller scale 2 for example leigh et al 2006 discuss how `classic mg cars are invested with meaning and symbolically valued in the united sates 3 clerides and hadjiyiannis 2008 269 calculated this as being a rate of export that was 16 times higher for japan than the usa which exported $0.7 billon of used cars despite having a national car fleet four times the size of japan 4 this act of violence served to underline how important it is to critically examine the role of government actors in trade networks in patrimonial states and also influenced the methodology that was being applied in the field research activities undertaken after this killing were implemented very cautiously due to the potential risks for both the researcher and research participants references bair j 2005 global capitalism and commodity chains looking back going forward competition and change 9 153­80 the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012

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92 networks of power and corruption the trade of japanese used cars to mozambique steg l 2004 car use lust and must instrumental symbolic and affective motives for car use transportation research part a policy and practice 39 147­62 sumich j 2010 the party and the state frelimo and social stratification in post-socialist mozambique development and change 41 679­98 thomas j j 1993 measuring the underground economy a suitable case for interdisciplinary treatment in renzetti c m and lee r m eds researching sensitive topics sage london 52­ 70 uss 2010 advantages of uss auto auction http www.ussnet co.jp/eng/auction/feature.html accessed 22 october 2010 woxenius j 2006 temporal elements in the spatial extension of production networks growth and change 37 526­49 sidaway j d 2007 enclave space a new metageography of development area 39 331­9 simon d 2006 separated by common ground bringing postdevelopment and postcolonialism together the geographical journal 172 10­21 söderbaum f and taylor i 2008 competing region-building in the maputo development corridor in söderbaum f and taylor i eds afro-regions the dynamics of cross-border microregionalism in africa nordiska afrikanstitutet uppsala sweden south african government 2010 import control guidelines http www.itac.org.za/import_guidelines.htm accessed online 13 september 2010 starosta g 2010 global commodity chains and the marxian law of value antipode 42 433­65 the geographical journal vol 178 no 1 pp 80­92 2012 © 2011 the author the geographical journal © 2011 royal geographical society with the institute of british geographers

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