ABSTRACT
The clandestine trade in Indian cottons in France during the embargo established a complex and original form of distribution for a consumer product that was both coveted and forbidden, the demands of the state and of the kingdom’s manufacturers being in complete contradiction with the expectations of consumers. Taking urban centres as a focus makes it possible to identify, among the various fraudsters operating in towns, the minor players in the long-distance smuggling networks, and in particular the women. This chapter describes circuits of trafficking and discusses the sociology of networks that used towns as a resource and allowed banned fabrics to reach their male and female customers avid for fashionable novelties or necessitous of cheap fabrics. How do men and women working in the black market contribute to the urban environment? Or, on the other hand, how does the city determine which illegal practices are carried out by women or by men? This study is based essentially on the archives of Lyon’s Customs Office, together with those of the Dauphiné Intendancy and the Commission de Valence.
