ABSTRACT
Amsterdam’s street food markets are in a crisis, as one market manager after another is arrested on suspicion of fraud and corruption. Based on archival and ethnographic research, this study argues that this crisis has historical roots in the false dichotomy that emerged within the governing authorities between the market principle and the market trader. With the peddler as the extreme example of the market trader, Amsterdam sought to solve its “Peddlers Question” by designating so-called “free-markets.” These free markets have become the model for today’s markets in Amsterdam. Here, the historically informed narrative of the market as being corrupted by the market trader comes to the surface as the municipality tries to find solutions for the current series of arrests of market managers. Rather than an emphasis on more policing, this chapter argues for the need of a change of mentality that reflects the local government’s role in facilitating the market.
